Okami Mitarashi
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: Left in a Konoha orphanage, Harry and Naruto become brothers. Later Anko adopts Okami *Harry* and raises him as her son. How will Okami deal with the Magical World which abandoned him to the Dursleys?
1. Chapter 1

When Vernon Dursley left the basket at the orphanage, he had no idea that he was changing the fate of both the hidden community of magic users and the nearby shinobi community of Konoha. Nor would he have cared. He only wanted his freak of a nephew gone.

So when he went on a business trip to Konohagakure, he didn't think twice. He took the brat with him and dropped him at the first orphanage he found.

And left without a nephew, a chance to make any money, and a lifetime ban from the village under pain of death.

No one realized what having the boy who lived would do to the village's future.

* * *

Naruto and Okami raced down the street, avoiding irate shinobi bent on catching and spanking the two four year olds for the prank they just played on the ANBU.

"Ne, Naru-kun, you don't think that the feathers were a bit much do you?" asked Okami.

"Come on Okami, they're just old geezers who can't take a joke!"

Okami flashed a look behind him, and said "Good point."

They ducked and dodged until they reached the forest. It was kept off limits to normal people, but that never stopped them before. Not since the day Okami realized he could talk to snakes. Ever since the boys had found sanctuary in the forbidden forest whenever they pranked someone.

The large snakes were always willing to shelter the boys until they could escape to the orphanage they lived in. Usually.

But something was different this time. This time one of the ANBU who hadn't been pranked followed them in. She had a Tengu mask on, and had the most unusual outfit that usually caused nosebleeds in the male population.

She followed them with ease, amazed at how comfortable two boys who hadn't even entered the academy were in the Forest of Death. Most shinobi only entered it under pain of death...or during the Chunin Exam.

Her amazement turned to complete shock as the black haired one stopped without warning and...was that hissing?

It was. The black haired kid was hissing...and out of nowhere one of the bigger snakes that dwelled in the forest came out. It looked at the boys and hissed back. It appeared amused...

The black one hissed back, and he was grinning. The snake let them climb on and she followed, in shock. The snake was curling up with both boys completely at ease with it around. And this thing was big enough to eat both and they would only be a snack!

She marked their faces, and left.

* * *

The next day she went looking for the kids. And found them in an orphanage. The black one was defending the other boy. So the blond was the Kyuubi container. She casually walked up to the watcher and said "What's the name of the black haired kid? The one with the emerald eyes?"

"Hm? Oh that's Okami. Everyone calls them the Uzamaki brothers. I wish they would tone down the pranks. It's bad enough that the Uchiha clan has come here seven times trying to catch them."

Her interest was perked. So these kids had eluded the famous Uchihas?

She went around the place, learning more about the one called Okami. If she could adopt him, she could turn him into a real powerhouse. Too bad she couldn't afford the blond one too. Maybe if the Hokage gave her the promotion to Jounin.

She went into the main office, and asked about Okami Uzamaki. He took one look at her headband and said "You can adopt him if you want. He's a known troublemaker."

* * *

She decided to think it over first, best not to rush into such things. Maybe she should talk to her friend Ibiki. The shock alone would be worth it.

"What's up Anko?" asked Ibiki. He had just sat down at the bar.

"Hmm? Oh, I was just thinking."

"You? Thinking? Don't hurt yourself."

He began to pour the sake into his cup, and was about to take a drink when she decided to tell him.

"I was thinking of adopting a kid."

Loud choking could be heard. A friendly drunk beat against him, helping to clear the passageway. Ibiki turned to Anko, incredulous.

_"You...WHAT?"_

"I was thinking of adopting a kid. A brat named Okami Uzamaki."

Ibiki took a good look at Anko, who was definitely not drunk. Then he took a long look at the sake bottle before checking for anything out of the ordinary. When he failed to find anything other than sake, he cleaned out his ears.

"I must be hearing things. I could have sworn I heard you say you were planning to adopt a kid."

"I didn't stutter did I?"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would you adopt some kid? More importantly what the hell brought this on?"

"I was following these two kids into Area forty four, and saw one talking to one of the largest ones. It let them curl up against it without even once acting agressive."

"Wait, did these kids happen to be blond with sapphire blue eyes and ebony with emerald?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Which one are you planning to adopt?"

"Green eyes. Why do you ask?"

"I have a score to settle with those brats."

Anko turned to him, highly amused.

"What did they hit you with?"

"They turned all my favorite instruments a bright neon pink and orange."

Anko laughed. Now she HAD to adopt one of them. If only to find out how the hell they pulled that one off.

* * *

Okami was disturbed. Some random ninja had come asking about him...and he was worried that they planned to adopt him. He wouldn't normally worry about that except that he was afraid for his brother. Naruto had no one else who even showed the slightest kindness towards him.

The next week someone came and filled out all the paperwork. Then he had to pack his things to leave the orphanage for good. The woman had blank eyes and gravity defying hair. He turned, and waved to Naruto.

* * *

When he entered the house she lived in, she showed him his new room. He was told to pick a color to paint it, and that they would get some new things later. Then she said something that made this new life a little more bearable.

"Look, I'm sorry I couldn't get both of you. I couldn't afford two kids. But that doesn't mean you can't invite him to spend a few nights here."

He beamed at her, relieved.

The next year he entered the academy...and found his brother.

"Naruto!"

The blond was tackled from behind, and he gaped at Okami.

"I thought you forgot about me..."

"How would I forget my own brother? Okaa-san said you can spend the night with us whenever you want!"

Which is how Naruto could often be found staying in Anko's house, even when the Hokage gave him his own place. Because he no longer lived in the orphanage, Naruto spent a lot of time with the crazed kunoichi and his brother. So much time in fact that he began to call her Anko-nee-chan whenever he saw her.

He never could figure out why Okami liked an Uchiha as an older brother. Still, Itachi at least trianed them when he had time off...and they could tolerate the brat known as Sasuke.

* * *

Three years had passed since Okami was adopted and became Okami Mitarashi. He was still considered Naruto's brother...and Anko was officially considered their mother, despite having adopted only one of the brothers. Surprisingly enough, most people were shocked that Anko turned out to be a great parent, despite being a complete and utter psycho. Though the number of pranks never went down...but they did go up.

Okami went to see Itachi one night, and saw something something disturbing. A man with an orange swirl mask was talking to Itachi. Itachi...was looking very upset about something, though only he could see it from this angle. Okami did something that most children his age would never even think of doing.

He stopped what he was doing and Listened. Not an easy trick for an almost eight year old. Particularly one who has a penchant for pranks and is just shy of people thinking he has ADHD. (Which is what everyone believed of his brother.) Listening involved stopping and focusing on one point and remembering each sound made.

_("Are you sure you will not reconsider, Itachi-kun?"_

_"No. I will not kill my own clan...no matter how irritating my clan is."_

_"Are you certian you won't consider helping me?"_

_"I won't join in a massacre."_

_Then Itachi left in a poof, and Okami stayed absolutely still, masking his prescence like his mother showed him. That's why he heard what the man did next._

_"So my dear descendant refuses to cooperate. I suppose I should take matters into my own hands..."_

_The man in the orange swirl mask put his hands in a familiar form, and silently henged into Itachi. Okami got a good look at the lone eye. It was swirling with a familiar red and black tomoe pattern. The same pattern he sometimes saw in Itachi's eyes.)_

* * *

Okami promptly ran to find Sasuke, who would be leaving the academy by now. He heard the first scream as the man began killing people...

"Sasuke wait!"

Okami tackled his friend to the ground.

"What in the nine hells do you think you're doing, Okami?"

Iruka came up and pulled them apart.

"Someone is killing people in the Uchiha compound. Someone henged to look like Itachi!"

Iruka looked at Okami. He was a born prankster, but he would never lie about something like this. Especially since everyone knew Okami had open eyes. Anko had tried to train it out of him, even going so far as to show him and Naruto the Torture and Interrogation department.

Nothing worked. Okami had the abilities of a ninja...and kept the luxury of a civilian's compassion. Sure he was a bad liar most days, but when he had too, he could pull it off with ease. His eyes became as hard as the gems they resembled when he had to lie perfectly. Only the T and I department knew this.

Okami's emerald eyes were wide open books, and right now he was telling the truth. Which meant someone was killing the Uchiha right now.

"Someone send an ANBU to the Uchiha compound. If you're lying Okami you're in serious trouble."

"Hai, Iruka-sensei!"

Okami was right, as they found out. Because he stopped Sasuke from leaving the academy, he kept the boy from finding someone henged as Itachi killing his parents. Itachi was at a bar with witnesses during the attack, and was dragged into T and I for questioning. Until Okami told the ANBU he overheard Itachi arguing with the killer and refusing to go along with it.

Which is why Itachi was allowed to remain a Konoha shinobi. After extensive questioning by Ibiki.

* * *

During a random bout against the Hyuga clan against Sasuke, who was now best friends with Okami and Naruto, something interesting happened. Okami was helping Sasuke fend off one of the branch members...and suddenly he got a lot better within minutes of getting his ass kicked.

And the branch member gasped as he took in Okami's eyes flashed red.

Suddenly Naruto charged in, and the branch members fled. Sasuke was gasping for breath, and went to thank the two...then stopped.

"Okami...your eyes."

"What about them?"

"They..."

He went into his bag and grabbed a mirror. Naruto was staring at him too. His face was shocked. Sasuke handed the mirror to Okami, and he went to see why they had that odd look. And nearly dropped the mirror.

"Sharingan? But how?"

"I don't know. Last I checked you weren't an Uchiha."

Which is why Okami was now with his mother, asking about an inheritance test. Once he explained she brought it to the Hokage...and now a mage was in Konoha for the first time in fifty years.

A good sized drop of blood and a ominous potion later...

****Harry James Potter Uchiha (Okami Mitarashi)****

**Father: James Potter Uchiha**

**Mother: Lily Potter Pendragon (Anko Mitarashi)**

**Brother: *Naruto Uzamaki***

**Aunt: (Shizune Mitarashi)**

**Uncle: *Sirius Orion Black* (Remus J. Lupin, Severus Snape)**

**Cousin: Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha**

Anko looked at the different colors, and asked what they meant.

"Basically, the red indicates blood relation. Blue means magical adoption into the bloodline. Purple means that the person is part of the family by blood adoption."

Then he took a good look at the name listed.

"Harry Potter? As in the boy who lived?"

Which drew the attention of everyone. The mage explained the supposed legend of how a child survived a European instant-death jutsu. Okami listened in disbelief. The Hokage then learned about magic, and reluctantly agreed to let Okami become a mage. He was a bit relieved that Okami still planned to be a ninja.

* * *

Even if over a week before he turned eleven an owl showed up.

Okami handed the letter to his mother, who looked at it.

"We're taking this to the pros. We need someone to decode this."

"I think it's in romanji."

"Do you read romanji?"

"No."

"Didn't think so."

Anko took the letter to the ones who specialize in decoding, who read it aloud to the Hokage and them.

_"Dear Mr. H. Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry..."_

"What the hell. I thought wolf boy was already getting magic trianing?" asked Itachi.

"He is, and this is highly suspicious."

The Hokage sent a letter back with the owl:

_"To whomever has sent this letter, I am here to inform you that the child you seek does not exist. Please do not contact this village again via owl, unless you want to be short one messenger bird._

_Signed Lord Sandaime Hokage, of Konohagakure."_

* * *

A full week later a foriegner came, dressed in the oddest outfit anyone had ever seen. He was wearing a long black cloak, along with a short sleeved black shirt and dark blue jeans. His hair hung limply, as if he had not washed it in a long while. His cool black eyes seemed to catch everything. Kiba happened to run past him and nearly fell from disgust. Naruto asked what was wrong and he said, "That dude reaks of bad fumes and poison ingredients."

Naruto went to see Okami later, and checked the date. He had something behind his back, and Okami looked at him.

"What are you hiding?" asked Okami suspiciously.

Naruto grinned, "You'll have to wait until Sasuke and the others come."

Five minutes later Itachi, Sasuke, Shikamaru and Chouji arrived. Each had a suspicious looking package.

It took him a moment to figure out what was going on. And he figured it out when Ibiki, Anko and Iruka arrived saying "Happy Birthday Okami!"

Okami grinned, and soon the party began. Ichiraku Ramen delivered the food for everyone, and sake for the adults.

Okami was as happy as a lark. This was the best day ever!

Once the party ended, Okami looked over the things he got from his friends and family. Naruto and Sasuke were staying the night, since Itachi had a mission later.

Itachi had given him a special scroll, and once he explained the purpose of it, was signed quickly. He had found it in the unused library of the Uchiha. Sasuke had given him a new sword which he had found in the armoury. Naruto got him a new book to read, since he knew Okami loved books. Shikamaru and Chouji brought him some new trianing scrolls for him to keep. Ibiki and Anko got him some armor for when he graduated, while Iruka got him a new pack to keep all his gifts in.

Now Okami could live up to his name, since the scroll Itachi gave him was a summoning scroll for wolves. His mother promised to teach him the signs for summoning later. Meanwhile he went to bed while his mother did the dishes for a change. Naruto filled the other two in on the odd man they saw entering the village earlier.

* * *

He was on a mission from the old man. Find, grab and return with the boy who lived. Now if only he had a clue as to what the brat called himself. While he was stuck in a village in the middle of nowhere, he was unable to brew his beloved potions or even perform magic.

He was so giving the old goat stomach problems when he got back. This was ridiculous!

Since the boy was eleven now, he decided to check the local schools. Then the orphanages.

He was in luck. A boy with black hair and green eyes was in the playground with a blond boy with blue eyes and a black haired boy with dark eyes. He went to approach them, when suddenly the blond one noticed him.

('Wolf, look! It's the foreigner I mentioned!') he mentally translated. Really, who names a kid wolf?

The boy looked at him, and he paused. There in front of him was a younger version of James Potter with emerald eyes. He couldn't see the infamous scar, but that was probably because the boy had long hair covering it up.

The boy looked at his watch and said ('I have to go. Mom said she'd teach me how to summon today!')

The kid poofed in a whirl of leaves, and the other two continued what they had been doing. So now he at least had a name. Wolf...which meant his name was Okami in Japanese. Time to see the village leader. Maybe he could help.

The Hokage looked at him shrewdly. Something told him that this old man was by far more dangerous than even Dumbledore had ever been.

"Let me see if I understand you correctly. Your master wants you to kidnap one of our academy cadets to become his pawn in a war that is about to begin again?"

"I wouldn't even be here if the man hadn't blackmailed me into coming. I was the only one he could force to come that could speak a language similiar enough to yours."

The Hokage pinched the bridge of his nose. He did not want to deal with this. He had enough on his plate with the village elders and the academy exam which was about to start next week. And a week after that the Chunin exam was going to be held in Suna, which meant he had to make sure all the candidates had their passports ready to go.

The man had a sympathetic look on his face. He didn't want to be here, and the Hokage didn't need this headache right now.

Then the solution hit him. He could kill two birds with one stone, and still have a loyal shinobi under his command.

"Does your master require Okami to enter this school this year? Or can he wait for a few years?"

Snape straightened. Clearly the man had a plan to deal with this headache.

"I believe I could convince him to wait before taking the boy. Why?"

"Okami Mitarashi is still an academy student, and would be unable to leave the village before he graduates. If your master can wait until he becomes at least a Genin and has a team to back him up, then I will allow him to go to this school. But not until then."

Snape agreed completely. This would essentially prevent Dumbledore from fully controlling the boy and still allow him to grow up normally for this village.

"I'll see what I can do. But if I am unable to convince him, he will probably try to kidnap him his own way. Which means you should keep 'Okami' away from any balls of fire. Fawkes can kidnap him before you have a chance to stop it."

The Hokage nodded. And watched as Snape activated an odd device which took him away with a pop.

* * *

Okami performed the handsigns, and watched as a wolf puppy appeared in the smoke. It barked at him, and he grinned.

"Ohayo! Watashi wa Mitarashi Okami. Yoroshiku!"

The wolf growled at him, "They call me Howl. Nice to meet ya Okami."

His grin widened.

"So Howl, until I get this summoning thing down, you mind sticking around?"

"Sure. Always wanted to know what the human world looked like."

* * *

So Okami spent several weeks at summoning his new animals. Howl even gave him an interesting fact...the four tailed wolf Bijuu was awake and could be summoned by anyone with sufficient chakra available.

Eventually Okami was able to summon the Alpha wolf, second strongest of all Wolf summons. Alpha was pleased that Okami was not only named after his kin, but interested in learning more about wolves. Which is why he was able to command Alpha and any other wolf he summoned afterwards.

**Okami, age twelve...**

This was it. The day he had been waiting for. The day he was able to take the academy exam and graduate.

Itachi had promised to be back in time in case he passed with Naruto and Sasuke. It didn't hurt that once Anko and Itachi had realized that Naruto was unable to perform a simple clone jutsu because of the low amount of chakra needed, they proceeded to teach him the shadow clone. And had to teach the other two after they wouldn't quit bugging them about it.

Now they were about to graduate if they passed. Anko had signed up for the Jounin roster just in case. The Hokage assured her that if they passed they would be given to her immedaitely.

So here he was, standing in front of the door.

"Mitarashi, Okami!"

Iruka sat there with Mizuki, one of the rare teachers Okami did not get along with. Something about the man just grated on his nerves.

"Alright, your test is to perform a clone jutsu and a replacement jutsu."

That was it? All that anticipation just for that?

He made the appropriate hand signs, then said "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

Five Okami stood there in front of the shocked chunin. One of the clones looked like Iruka, and Okami swapped with that one.

"Pass!"

Okami walked out proudly with his new headband around his forehead, hiding the odd scar that he hated so much. He saw Naruto and gave him a victorious "V" sign with his hand. Then he whispered "Clone jutsu."

Naruto grinned and passed it to Sasuke. When they were called up, both boys had evil smirks on their faces as they performed a shadow clone jutsu. Iruka was silently cursing Okami for telling them about the exam before they came in.

To celebrate, Itachi took them all out for ramen.

* * *

A week later they had their ninja photos done...and each brother of the dreaded Uzachiha pack were wearing a different animal headband along with their ninja one.

Okami had worn (you guessed it) wolf ears, Naruto wore blond fox ears and Sasuke (surprising both the brothers) had worn a very amusing pair of black cat ears complete with tail. Itachi had laughed himself hoarse when he saw the outfit his younger brother had worn.

For some odd reason the Hokage didn't force them to retake the photo. Rumor had it that the Okami/Sasuke fanclub had banded together and told him not to change it.

The truth was that the old man was well aware that the three could have done something a lot worse...like painted their faces with something ridiculous complete with pose.

Besides...any enemy nin who saw those pictures would immediately underestimate them.

He only hoped they survived Anko's test...she was planning on making them run to the center of Area forty four.

* * *

Anko met up with her new team. Which in fact was really her kid, his brother and best friend. Since they already got along so well (enough to pull pranks on the village) there was really no point in the bell test this time. So she decided to test their ability to survive alone.

"Alright, listen up. The final genin exam consists of two bells and you trying to get them. Unfortunately for your three the usual test is pointless. So your new assignment is to make it to the center of Area 44 alone. You may use any tool at your disposal, and you have two days to get through it. When you reach the tower, you are to wait for me. Am I clear?"

"Hai, sensei!"

Okami entered the gate furthest from his mother. Naruto took the one closest, and Sasuke entered five gates away.

The first thing Okami encountered in the forest was his favorite snake. Once he told the serpent what he was doing, the snake was all for helping him pass. And had something for him once it was over.

It took him ten hours, but Okami reached the center first. It didn't hurt that the snake had kept all the more dangerous predators (also known as Fire Country tigers, which would eat him for a snack) from even getting close.

Two hours later Sasuke arrived, looking like he had been through hell. According to him he ran into not only a tiger, but five boars, and one very large snow tiger.

Half an hour after he came, Naruto jumped out of the canopy...with the biggest tiger they had ever seen chasing him!

Anko appeared and sent the large predator packing. Then turned to them, with a large grin on her face.

"Congratulations Team four! You pass the secondary Genin exam. Tomorrow we start our mission rotation."

Okami looked at her nervously.

"What's wrong Midori-me?"

"Um...I heard from Onii-chan that Genins are only allowed the D ranks. And that those are the most boring and mind numbing missions available."

Anko gave them an unreadable look.

"Itachi wasn't joking. D ranks are the most asinine missions available. Mostly Jounin use them to improve the team dynamic. In our case however, we will be doing four D ranks a day until we hit the required number for a C rank. Once we hit that number, we finally get to escape the boring tasks and get to real trianing."

The three newly minted Genin grinned. At least with Anko as their sensei the D ranks would be mildly interesting. No way would she allow them to whine from boredom!

Okami reentered the Forest of Death to see the snake again. When he left, he was slightly shocked and Okami was more than a little excited.

The snake had given him a scroll which could summon forth an unlimited arsenal of weapons and snakes from the forest. Since he had long mastered the art of summoning, Okami couldn't wait to leave the village and try out his new trick!

* * *

Okami was bored out of his mind. Even with his crazy mother teaching them, D Ranks sucked. Well...almost all of them sucked. Catching Tora the escaped cat of the Fire Daimyo's wife was actually their favorite. Though the people in charge of missions were honestly shocked about that fact, as every other genin dreaded getting that one.

Every other genin wasn't allowed to torture the damn cat as long as they left no physical trace of the deed.

Naruto and Sasuke loved having Anko as their teacher. With her showing them new techniques, they quickly finished at least five D ranks a day now. By the end of the week they had done more missions than most newly minted Genin did in a month.

Finally they were allowed a C rank. Anko had picked this one specifically, though Okami wondered why she glared at the Hokage about one of the scrolls on the table.

So now they were on their way to Wave country to help out some old geezer building a bridge. There was only one tiny problem. He had underrated the mission, which was easily a B rank.

Lucky for him Anko didn't want to return to Konoha just yet. Her team earned this mission dammit!

The mist parted to reveal the under construction bridge. Naruto whistled, impressed. Once they reached land however, they immediately began scanning the surrounding for more enemy nin. Which is why they were prepared for the Mist ninja Zabusa Momochi.

Anko immedaitely took a stance, and then launched herself at the rogue ninja. Ducking, dodging and even retaliating with her own attacks, she was still caught in a rather large ball of water.

Okami noticed something out of the corner of his eye and smirked. He could save his mother and still beat this nin.

He hissed lowly.

Zabusa looked at him, then figured he was just trying to spook him. So imagine his shock when the largest water moccasin attacked him out of nowhere!

Anko broke free, and kept battling him until Zabusa was hit with senbon from beyond their sight. A masked kid about their age picked up the man with ease, and escaped. Anko snorted.

"So the Demon of the Bloody Mist has an accomplice. We won't see him for at least a week now."

* * *

They headed to the house, and once they rested for the night, Anko had them up by dawn to train. She had Sasuke working on his summoning technique, since Itachi had found a scroll for summoning that suited his little brother perfectly. Sasuke could now bring out ravens and crows to a battle...the only problem he seemed to have was the size of the birds.

Naruto worked on his water walking so he could get better at a wind based jutsu that Okami had found for him. So far he had managed to keep it stable for about five minutes. The jutsu allowed him to use specially made shuriken to hit his opponent repeatedly and return using air currents.

Okami, on the other hand, was working on his grand fireball technique. Itachi at least had taken pity on him and lent him the scroll. In return for helping him with summoning, Sasuke helped Okami with his fireball.

Anko watched over the bridge builder for the week as the boys trained.

* * *

Zabusa appeared, and much to their surprise, Naruto was late. He had been up all night practicing his water walking and didn't realize until Anko dragged him back to the house that he had used up almost all of his chakra. He was still asleep when they left.

Okami elected to destroy the clones, and Sasuke let him. Then he let loose a grand fireball at the enemy nin.

Clearly Sasuke's advice had done some good, because it looked like a proper fireball. Sasuke waited for Anko's signal to use his new summons. When the smoke cleared, a murder of crows fly around Sasuke. Each of the crows was at least the size of a fuuma shuriken, fully extended.

"Strike."

The crows flew in a V formation, then dive bombed the masked kid. The kid bolted, and they missed. They kept at him until faster than they could see, the kid dispersed them with senbon. Okami was going after Zabusa while Anko protected the bridge builder. (She is a sadist after all. Her methods pretty much equal sink-or-swim when it comes to battles.)

Okami soon brought out the wolf pack, and felt himself going into his 'other' state. Unlike werewolves, which were well known to the ninja villages, Okami didn't become a wolf during the full moon. Instead he reverted into a wolf like state, and gained their sense of smell and predator instincts.

It was why he was named Okami in the orphanage and how he met Naruto.

* * *

_(Flashback)_

_The three year old managed to enter the playground unchallanged. Then he saw one of the adult ninja beating up another kid, and wondered why. The kid was crying, and they were hitting him harder. Something inside him snapped._

_He growled, much like a man in his memories did when he was angry. The man had tawny hair and warm amber eyes. He went on all fours, and tackled the ninja._

_The man took one look at his eyes and shivered. The child had the look of a born predator. They were almost wolf like in their intensity._

_"Wolf..."_

_He fled._

_Ever since then the boys had stayed together, and he earned the name Okami for the way he would turn into a human wolf whenever someone threatened the other boy._

_(Flashback end)_

* * *

Okami struck, and struck hard with his pack. Zabusa flinched when he saw the red eyes of the Sharingan swirl in the brat's face.

Suddenly Haku brought out his ice mirrors, and Sasuke went on the defensive.

Then Naruto appeared, and all hell broke loose.

Okami could feel it. The other power inside him, waiting to be used. He focused on his pack, and suddenly he was looking from all fours instead of two.

He howled, an ominous sound. The pack howled with him, ready to follow their alpha wolf. It took him a moment to realize what had happened.

He had found his animagus form. Without potion or training. He grinned, and struck the chunin again. Soon Zabusa was on the defensive, and his mist technique was useless. He was already bloody from the earlier strikes.

Naruto used his new technique to block the senbon while Sasuke was on the offensive. Meanwhile Anko pulled out a tea set and began eating lunch with Tazuna, who was a bit surprised at the cavalier attitude she had for her students.

Haku was taken out by Naruto and the nine tailed fox coming out. Zabusa was bleeding heavily when it happened.

Then the mist cleared, and revealed a large host of samurai, bandits...and Gato, the one who ordered the attack on Tazuna.

Zabusa laughed coldly.

"It seems you and I have no more reason to fight."

The wolf gave a cruel grin, and howled. The pack surrounded Okami, and he turned to the mass of mercenaries. Sasuke appeared next to him, and summoned his ravens and crows. Flying around him ominously, they were prepared to really let them have it. Naruto, after snapping out of his feral state, glared at them.

Anko finally got up and said "Alright gaki. It's time for me to actually do something fun."

"And who might you be, wench?" asked Gato, smug.

"Second in command of the Konoha Torture and Interrogation department and ANBU special ops leader Anko Mitarashi. Also known as the Snake Bitch of the Dango stands."

Okami turned back into a human, and sent his wolves home. His mother could handle a pack of fools like these. Sasuke and Naruto did the same, then looked at the two rogue ninja they had been fighting.

"You have three options."

Zabusa and Haku looked at each other, then said "We're listening."

"One, you leave now and we never cross paths again," said Sasuke.

"Two, you come with us and join the Leaf village and become strong enough to accomplish your goal," said Naruto.

"Or three, you leave after we heal you and then we chose whether to kill you when your backs are turned," said Okami.

They exchanged looks.

"What would we have to do to join the Leaf?"

Okami grinned. His canine fangs were extended, and would be for at least a week.

"You'll have to ask Okaa-san when she's done playing."

Zabusa stared at the kid.

"That crazy bitch is your mother?"

Okami laughed, "I get that a lot."

Anko finished with over half of the mercenaries, and the townspeople came with weapons...lead by the same kid Naruto snapped at. Inari, Tazuna's grandson. Apparently Naruto had inspired him to be brave for a change.

Gato was already dead from the poison inside Anko's snakes.

* * *

Once everything calmed down and the bridge was built, Anko talked to Zabusa. He obviously passed the usual inspection of new nin, since Anko had Sasuke send a coded letter to the Hokage the next day.

(Itachi had Sasuke working with the shinobi who took care of the messenger birds so he would know what to do if his summons got sick.)

It was sent back with two new headbands.

Tazuna named the new bridge 'The great Naruto bridge'.

Okami tried not to laugh.

Since it was the by now infamous Uzuchiha brothers who suggested that Zabusa and Haku join the Leaf, Sasuke asked Itachi if it was alright for them to stay at the currently vacant mansion. Itachi agreed, since Anko approved them for the village.

It took them less than a week to get back, even in Haku's wounded state.


	2. Chapter 2

It was almost time for the chunin exams, and this year they would be held in Konoha for a change. As a result, Okami was working harder than ever to pass the exams. Anko had already let him in on the fact that she recommended them for it.

So he decided for his day off he would visit the two chunin who always greeted people at the gate. Kotetsu and Izumo were always happy to see him for one reason. He brought food.

Okami handed them two large bento boxes and said "Special delivery!"

They grinned.

"How was Wave country, Okami-kun? You brought back two new nin, didn't you?" said Kotetsu.

"Yup. Zabusa Momochi and Haku. Haku happens to have an interesting kekkei genkai. Zabusa is known in the Bingo book as the Demon of the Bloody Mist for killing a lot of Mist pre-genin."

Izumo whistled.

"Hard core. How old was he?"

"According to the stories, not old enough to even be qualified as a genin by Mist standards."

They stared at him.

"You brought a kid with a kekkei genkai and a known psycho back to the village...and they're staying at the Uchiha clan mansion?"

Okami looked at them and said "You do know my mother, right?"

That got them laughing.

He stayed till dinner, and as per the usual arrangement, since he brought lunch they bought dinner.

Nothing interesting happened aside from three Suna genin showing up with their sensei. Something about the red head bugged him, so he marked the scent.

* * *

Okami mentioned the Sand genin at lunch the next day, and with their interest perked, the three begged Anko to let them scope out the competition. Since they were obviously in no mood to either train or do a D rank, she let them. But she did decide to improve their stealth.

"You may scope out the other genin elected, but you must do so in secret. If you're caught, you must do a D rank alone tomorrow. One D rank for every time you are caught."

"Hai, sensei!"

Gaara knew someone was watching him from the shadows. But that was all they did. Something about one of the watchers bothered him though.

When they went exploring the next day, one of the local brats bumped into Kankuro. He started a fight, despite the fact that the blond kid clearly looked ready to take him on.

The raven haired one stopped Kankuro from seriously hurting the kid. Then he felt a presence behind him. It was the ebony haired boy with emerald eyes.

"Yo. My names Okami. What's yours?"

Gaara looked at the kid.

"Gaara no Sabaku."

"It suits you."

For some reason Gaara felt relaxed around this genin of the Leaf. His friend had already stopped Kankuro. Gaara made his presence known and gave the other Leaf genin a warning look.

"Kankuro. Knock it off or I will kill you."

"Sorry Gaara..." mumbled the boy with the face paint.

Okami sneezed.

"Dude...You should seriously lay off some of that war paint. You reek to high heaven to people with sensitive noses."

The girl started snickering.

"I've told you before Kankuro to go easy on the war paint. But you never listen."

"Why the hell would I listen to you Temari?"

Okami tried in vain to hold back his laughter.

"Just to warn ya, the Inuzuka clan will probably want to stay at least ten meters away from you, even if their noses aren't nearly as sensitive as mine."

Naruto laughed.

Kankuro made a face. Gaara was hiding a grin.

"You alright Konohamaru?" asked Naruto.

"I'm fine Aniki."

Okami grinned.

"Glad to hear it gaki. I wouldn't want the Hokage to come after us because his grandson got hurt and we didn't prevent it. Where's that super perv you call a sensei?"

Konohamaru laughed, his mind taken away from the odd Sand ninja.

* * *

Okami couldn't sleep, as his nightmares with the green light came again. So he got up and left a note to his mother to let her know he went for a long walk.

He walked in the full moonlight, enjoying the breeze on top of the wires. While he was out, he noticed a certain redhead moon gazing. Since he knew a few places still open that sold dango (out of fear from Anko) he decided to get some.

Gaara looked up when he felt the person behind him.

Okami held out two sticks of dango and said "You want some?"

Gaara took the dango, though he was confused. Why was the boy so nice to him?

"If you're worried about me having an ulterior motive, you can relax. I can spot someone who was cursed before they were born a mile away. Because you have the same problem Naruto has."

"Naruto? Who names their son fishcake?"

"The Hokage is to blame for that one. Apparently Naruto's parents died, so he named him. I was named after I protected him without thinking about it first. According to the shinobi who was beating him up at the time, I was like a wolf protecting it's cub."

"Is that why you name is Okami?"

"Yup. So who are you stuck with?"

He looked at the other boy, confused.

"Which tailed beast do you have?"

"Shukaku."

"Raccoon dog, right? So what's your favorite jutsu?"

Gaara looked at him.

"Sand shield. You?"

"Wolf moon. At least that's what I call it. I go all feral and turn into a wolf. I usually summon my pack from the summons realm, and we go on the prowl. Depending on the situation I act as an alpha wolf taking down his prey."

"You do wolf summons?"

"I know, right? Wolf summons for the wolf boy is a bit redundant."

"Why are you even here?"

"I couldn't sleep, so I took a walk. I happened to see you were moon gazing and thought you could use the company."

"I can't sleep...ever. Shukaku would take over my mind if I did."

Okami winced.

"Ouch. That has to be rough. Have you ever tried meditation? It's not as good as real sleep, but it could probably help."

"I wouldn't know how."

"Want me to show you?"

"Sure."

Okami spent half the night showing Gaara how to meditate. It clearly had an effect, since the exercise seemed to relax the other boy. Eventually he had to leave before his mother sent Ibiki after him. Gaara at least said good night before returning to his meditation.

"Where were you brat? You've been out for at least seven hours!" growled Anko.

"I was scouting out an rival genin since I couldn't sleep. I found some valuable info because of it."

Anko's interest was peaked.

"Oh?"

"The one tailed Raccoon dog, Shukaku is in the village right now. His human side is Sabaku no Gaara, a redhead from the Sand village. I don't sense any hostile intent towards the village though."

Anko relaxed.

"So another kid like Naruto then?"

"Other than the fact that if he falls asleep the raccoon takes over, yeah."

"Should I alert the Hokage?"

"Not just yet. Unless he makes a move against the village he isn't a threat. He could just be here for the exam."

"True. Alright, if the kid is only here for the exam we'll leave him be. But if he isn't..."

"Hai, Okaa-san."

* * *

The day they had been waiting for arrived. Sasuke got prepared with Itachi's help. Naruto got his things ready, scrolls you name it. Okami just packed at least six lunches, and grabbed his favorite pen.

They headed to the exam hall with two hours to spare. They were on the second floor when they heard the sounds of a scuffle.

Okami winced and said "Dammit all to hell. Don't tell me the fuzzy brow kid is taking the exam too!"

"Fuzzy...brow...kid?" asked Sasuke.

"There are two very well known nut jobs/eyesores in Konoha. One is the infamous green beast, Maito Gai. The other is his protege Rock Lee. Lee is known around the academy for having little to no chakra, yet still making it on the genin roster. The very sight of their outfits makes me want to gouge my eyes out...particularly when the two are crying each other's names to a fake sunset."

Sasuke took a good look at his outfit and winced. It was tacky.

Then Okami noticed a certain duo and grinned.

He broke through the crowd, walked up to the two blocking the door and handed them a bento each.

"If we survive the first part you owe my team dinner at the BBQ place."

The two grinned at him.

"We're just having a bit of fun wolf boy."

"Sure. Like you two don't have fun with each other every night..." leered Okami.

The wocked him a good one, and they left for the third floor.

"Who were those guys? And why did you give them lunch?" asked Naruto.

"Didn't you recognize the bandage? That was Izumo and Kotetsu, from the village entrance. You know, the two chunin who always guard the gates?"

"You mean they were doing that..."

"To see if the genin this year were worth having. Apparently quite a few of them never realized that this was the 'second' floor."

Lee then appeared and challenge Sasuke. As rookie of the year, he seemed to perk the others interest. Then Okami learned about Lee's crush on the only girl he knew with pink hair, and started laughing his ass off.

"You can't be serious. You like a girl who's more interested in boys than actually getting off her ass to do serious ninja training? She's a bloody menace!"

'Not to mention her choice in colors is atrocious.'

Lee then went at Okami, who smirked. One minute he was about to get his ass kicked by an irate ninja with a bowl cut, the next said ninja was hanging upside down by his ankles, and looking very confused.

Naruto was cackling like the idiot he was, since it was his favorite magic trick.

Often pulled on people who tried to attack him because of the beast he had sealed inside him. As it was, Naruto honestly had no problem with the Kyuubi, since it actually gave him the ability to talk to Okami without speaking. He usually had to get the fox to agree to it, mostly by playing a prank on someone, but it was always worth it.

Okami always had fun with that tidbit, because he knew the usual deal Naruto made with the fox. He always helped too.

He let Lee off, fifteen minutes before the exam started...and ten minutes after they had made it to the room in question.

* * *

Okami spotted Gaara and handed him a bento box. The Sand shinobi looked surprised, but nodded in thanks. His teammates looked downright shocked, mostly because Okami bothered to approach their brother and Gaara never even shielded himself.

Okami handed Naruto and Sasuke their lunch, and they grinned at him.

That was when Kabuto arrived, and made his presence known. Something about the guy raised his hackles.

Then he caught a scent which really threw him off, and it was coming from Kabuto. It was really faded, but it was still there.

The scent of snakes, death and blood. He usually got that from his mother, only it was easier. This one was foul, and cold. And the only person which would fit that description that he knew of, and could make it into a ninja village unnoticed was...Orochimaru.

Which meant Kabuto was a traitor, since he was most definitely not naive.

Okami growled, warning the older boy away. Naruto looked at his brother, and knew something was wrong. Kabuto came closer, intent on offering advice when Okami all but snarled at him. Sasuke took one look at his cousin, and realized he was way to close to going wolf on the older boy. They dragged him to the other rookie genin, and Okami calmed down.

"What's wrong with four eyes?"

_**"Traitor...fell snakes...death."**_

Their eyes widened. For Okami to say things that way meant he was closer to going wolf than they suspected. His predator instincts were on overdrive.

Then the sound ninja arrived and hit Kabuto in a way that couldn't be seen. Okami finally calmed down when he smelled the man's blood.

Then Ibiki finally appeared, and the exam got underway. Poor Naruto was almost down heartened when he found out it was a paper exam.

Once he sat down next to Hinata, the only female in the academy that Okami could stand, he got ready to open a connection to Okami via Kyuubi.

Three...two...one.

Naruto felt his mind-scape fall into place, while his hands were in plain sight in the hand sign for a clone.

His mind scape used to be a sewer for some odd reason until Okami complained. Now it was a forest, full of large trees and comfortable sunlight. The Kyuubi was wide awake, the seal jingling around it's neck from a bell and prayer beads.

_**"I know, I know. You want to talk to wolf."**_

"Yes, Kyuubi-sempai."

_**"Fine, but I want you to hit the mission room when you get the chance."**_

Naruto had a perverted grin, and then showed what he had in mind for that one. Kyuubi laughed like a loon, and opened the connection.

_'A little help here, Okami?'_

_'Naruto, you do realize the whole point of this test is to cheat. And the tenth question is to determine whether or not you could handle an unknown amount of variables during a mission that has been compromised?'_

_'And your point is?'_

_'It would be funnier if you left your test blank, since the whole point system is just to make you sweat?'_

Naruto had a huge fox like grin, and pretended to be writing. Then Okami said something that had him pause.

_'Naruto, I need you to put a coded message down for me to Ibiki. I can't do it, since the guy who set me off is right next to me, and Hinata can't read romanji.'_

_'Fine.'_

(After the incident with the Hogwarts letter, the Uzuchiha brothers learned romanji, if only to use in a code.)

**Kabuto in league with Orochimaru. Possibly recent, as scent of fell snakes lingers on his clothes. One of the Rain genin is actually Snake sannin in disguise, scent too strong to mistake. Kabuto may be informing Orochimaru of village weaknesses. Please advise, WOLF.**

The test went on for a full hour, and Naruto kept pretending to write. Hinata offered to let him borrow her test, but he shook his head.

"I don't want you to fail with me."

(He had no idea that would actually increase Hinata's crush on him.)

Then the tenth question arrived. Like Okami predicted, over half the other genin left. When Ibiki tried to make them squirm, Okami gave Naruto the all clear.

'Go for it bro.'

Naruto gave his speech, slammed his hand on the table, and consequently managed to pass over twenty teams without realizing it.

* * *

That was when Okami's mother and their sensei once again showed the world her really crappy sense of timing...by breaking a window and using kunai to pin up a banner with her name on it. Okami groaned in dismay.

"Okaa-san, your timing really sucks. Are you really trying to compete with that lazy hound for bad timing?"

Anko glared at her son and completely ignored the comment. So she told them where to meet her, glared at her son again, and vanished.

An hour later team seven could be found on the roof with Gaara and the two chunin who guarded the gates, eating lunch.

Okami made the introductions, since he was the only commonality they had.

"Alright, Gaara, this is my cousin and brother Sasuke and Naruto. These two jokers are chunin who happen to love our pranks, Izumo and Kotetsu. As per our arrangement, they now owe team seven dinner at the BBQ restaurant."

"Hey Okami, how long do you think it will take Ibiki to find that message you had me leave?"

"Right about...now."

(Ibiki had already found the message, chuckled at the fact that he had just passed a genin who didn't actually write an answer down, then when he had the thing decoded stared in shock.)

"Wolf, are you absolutely certain about this?"

"Kabuto has the scent of fell snakes, blood and death. The only person in this village who fits that scent profile is Anko, and this scent was more disgusting. Which lead me to conclude that he is in fact in league with the snake sannin who went rogue. The Rain guy gave off a similar scent, only it was too strong to be residual."

"I'll alert the Hokage."

Izumo looked at him.

"I think Orochimaru is in the village disguised as a Rain ninja, and Kabuto is supplying him with information about this year's newest crop of genin."

They nodded, and continued eating lunch.

"Why are you not more worried about this?"

"On the off chance I'm wrong, the most that will happen is that a genin with a large amount of medical ninjutsu will be pissed off at me. Oh, and I will have annoyed the Rain village."

"And if you are right?"

"Then we let the Hokage deal with it. Otherwise we'll kick their asses."

"This daifuku bun is really good."

"Sweets are my specialty."

"You got that right. For a wolf boy, Okami has a great sense of taste when it comes to sweets," said Kotetsu.

They chatted for a while, mostly asking Gaara about his village, before heading back.

The terror duo later took the boys out for BBQ as promised.

* * *

Since they were probably going to be stuck there for days, the three packed enough food to last for four days in storage scrolls, and met up at the forest. Unlike the other genin, it held nothing that would worry them.

They had been in there enough times hiding after a prank for it to lose it's sinister appeal. Too bad the other rookies didn't have that advantage. Team four had been in there often enough that they memorized the best route to the tower to avoid the main problem areas.

Which is why they took position in the gate they used the most.

"Alright, we find the opposite scroll, sick the snakes on Kabuto and the Rain nin's teams, and get the hell out of here."

Sasuke looked at him.

"How do you know that they weren't already picked up?"

"Knowing the old geezer, he'll want to do a wait and see. He would most likely want to know what Orochimaru is doing here first."

They separated, keeping in touch with the sensitive mikes Okami had bought for the occasion with his allowance. Since they kept within range of the radios by running at a distance that was far enough for them to not see each other buy still close enough to reach one of them if they were in trouble.

It was noon when they finally hit gold. Sasuke had found a team with the other scroll they needed, and alerted them. Naruto and Okami were at his side within minutes. They struck hard and fast, stealing the scroll and leaving the team they hit hanging from their ankles. Then they went straight to a snakes den and convinced a good portion of the snakes in there to hit Kabuto and the Rain nin.

After which they began their fifteen minute journey to the tower. The whole thing took less than twenty minutes to occur. So they beat Gaara's team by a good half hour at least.

Iruka, while mildly surprised to be summoned within an hour of the exam starting, gave his required speech and then told them that yes, they were allowed to go back outside to sabotage the other teams provided that they got back inside before the test was officially over.

Seeing the evil grin on their faces told him that he had probably just doomed every other genin on the exam...

* * *

_(Back in the forest)_

_Kabuto wanted to know where the hell that damn snake came from and why it was following him specifically! Suddenly he narrowly avoided getting impaled by the serpents impressive fangs. Normally he liked snakes, but this one was getting on his nerves fast. And it was a breed commonly found in the Forest of Death, which meant normal jutsu and weapons were about as effective as singing._

_Why did his day turn out to be so crappy?_

_Orochimaru was very curious as to why the largest snake he had ever seen outside summoning was following him, clearly intent on eating him for some reason. Oh well, he killed it with his summons and went on his way to locate and mark the youngest Uchiha heir, Sasuke._

* * *

Okami, Sasuke and Naruto were currently hiding from a very terrifying snow tiger (what the hell was a snow tiger doing in FIRE COUNTRY anyway?) Okami spotted a trio of Mist genin approaching.

Feeling vindictive after the brutal training session via Haku, Okami threw a kunai, alerting the tiger to their presence. Said genin were now running for their lives since their meager jutsu had absolutely no effect on the tiger other than to piss it off royally.

That was when it all went to hell in a hand basket courtesy of a certain pink haired fan-girl who had no real reason to be a ninja other than to get close to Sasuke.

Sakura shrieked when she saw the snakes. Which had the trio wince in sympathy for both snake and her poor teammates who had to put up with her on a daily basis. If it weren't for the fact that they needed three on their team and couldn't get apprenticed to a lone jounin they most definitely would have ditched her the first chance they got.

As it was they were stuck with a pink haired harpy with no taste in color combinations. Pink and red are not respectable shinobi colors for a kunoichi.

In team four's opinion, Sakura Haruno should have dyed her hair a different color years ago when she first decided to become a ninja. Or at least hidden it.

Okami turned to his pack, and said "I have an idea. We split up for a full day and meet back at the room where Iruka showed up in two days. If you run into Orochimaru you retreat and head to the tower to stay. Do not engage if you can help it."

Sasuke grinned. He had a good idea what his cousin had in mind.

"In other words we get rid of as many genin as we can for two days unless we run into the traitors?"

"Try not to kill anyone from the village. You can also use the time to practice your transformation into your summon animal."

Okami had spent an entire week showing Sasuke how to turn himself into a raven and crow. Even with his newly awakened Sharingan it was still imperfect. And he had difficultly staying in the air. Even with Okami's advice on the matter, he still got airsick.

Naruto on the other hand had better luck becoming a fox. Kyuubi was a master at transformation, and it was apparently true of Naruto. So every once in a while he would run with Okami as a small gold fox.

They nodded to each other, then broke apart. Each taking a different route.

* * *

_Naruto grinned as he became a fox cub. Stalking through the underbrush, he noticed some Grass ninja trying to avoid a very large boar. The boar could easily gouge a man with it's tusks and leave them on the ground bleeding. He gave a short, but very loud bark which alerted the boar to their presence. _

_The Grass nin were actively cursing as they began their attempts at killing the boar. Naruto left them bleeding in the forest, and nodded in their direction when he saw a familiar snake nearby. It hissed and went slithering in that direction. Screams filled the air as Naruto went to do more damage to foreign ninja._

* * *

_Sasuke had to remind himself of the advice Okami gave him concerning his transformation. He was not a human turning into a bird. He was a bird who preferred to be a human most days._

_It helped a bit. Especially once his crow and raven summons figured out what Okami had told him. He had to become a bird to understand his summons. So he meditated on the tallest branch he could find, and saw himself as a large crow. It didn't hurt that he had enough magic in his blood to pull this off._

_He felt himself falling into his trance, and then off the branch. He extended his arms...no, his wings. His eyes narrowed considerably, and he flapped once, twice. His wings began to take a more natural rhythm as they pumped, and he took flight. He could see enemy ninja, avoiding the large snow tiger nearby._

_Inwardly smirking, he cawed loudly and the tiger noticed them. He continued to fly past the screams. That was when he noticed the Rain ninja Okami had pointed out. The same ones which he said held the traitor Orochimaru. Not wanting to stick around the tower for two days with nothing to do, he veered off._

_Which is when one of the Rain ninja spotted him and out of frustration, threw a kunai at him. It almost hit him!_

_He felt himself being pulled through a small tube, and popped into place inside the tower library._

_'What just happened?'_

* * *

_Okami summoned his pack, and howled. They howled with him, eager to begin the hunt._

_Running on his paws, he searched for foreign ninja to sabotage. Instead he found scroll hoarders, and stole every single one that they had collected. He even found the silly Sound trio, and took theirs. Pissed off, they followed him intent on getting it back._

_Okami rushed in, and attacked the one with his faced bandaged. He went straight for the jugular, killing him instantly. He focused on the remaining male, while his pack went after the girl. Soon all three were dead, and his pack howled with triumph. Time to hit Kabuto, the traitor._

_He picked up the medical ninja's scent, and the pack took point. Soon they were upon them. Seeing the snakes still annoying the boy, he switched, hissed and then prepared to attack._

_His paws felt the warm flesh of the traitor, and he snarled as he went for the man's neck. Kabuto ducked, and he missed. He took a swipe at his arm, and did some damage to it. It hung limply and bleed heavily._

_Kabuto somehow managed to make the signs for a medical ninjutsu, and he tried to sever the tendons in his legs. Okami dodged, and Kabuto missed. His pack had already killed his teammates, so at least the traitor wouldn't progress further._

_Okami and his pack ruined the advancement of at least five teams before he ran back to the tower. Naruto was already there, waiting._

* * *

"Have fun?"

"The traitor lost his team, the Sound trio is dead, and five other teams won't show up. You?"

"I attracted a boar and killed some Grass ninja, took out fellow shinobi from our village without killing them, and annoyed Kiba."

They went in, and found Sasuke already there reading a scroll. He held up their usual greeting of two fingers.

"Yo."

"How was your sabotage?"

"I managed to stay in the air for three hours, knocked one team out of the running and somehow ended up in the library after being pulled through a small tube."

"You apparated into the library. What happened?"

"One of the Snake traitor's team threw a kunai and I popped in the library a second later."

"Which means you'll have to join me for magic lessons. If you have enough of it that you apparated by accident, then you have enough to become a mage. Naruto too, most likely."

"When do we start?"

"After this round is over, most likely."

They waited out for another three days, and found that every team from the academy graduated had passed.

They had a free for all bout between the remaining examinees, and Okami was up first. Normally he would summon his wolves, have them attack the enemy and win. But he felt like handling this on his own, using only taijutsu.

He brought out his sword, and prepared to beat the ridiculous Tenten at her own game.

Okami's sword was about four feet long, and tapered at the end. The hilt had a snarling wolf made of true silver, with it's eyes being amber gold. The blade itself had a stylized wolf, fully extended along the blade, it's fangs sharp as a serpent's tooth. The grip was an emerald green and onyx black colored cloth which was braided in an elegant diamond weave. Inside the hilt was filled with the Hyuuga clan's special medicine for all injuries, guaranteed to seal off any bleeding wounds within seconds of application.

Itachi and Sasuke had spent a pretty penny buying the sword and medicine. In their opinion it was worth it, because Okami was very skilled at using it.

Tenten summoned her large arsenal of weapons the minute Okami made it clear he was willing to fight without any ninjutsu or genjutsu.

It was a showdown between weapon users, and she was more than happy to oblige.

The second the match began, Okami charged, his stance perfect. Tenten used her special fan to block and attempted to capture the blade. Okami twisted his grip, and the sword slid free. She was on the defensive, until she brought out her scroll and summoned her full arsenal. Okami blocked, knocked and threw each weapon away with ease. Then he ducked under her guard and put his blade to her jugular.

"Do you yield?"

Tenten used her strength to kick him back, a thin line of blood from where the blade had been pressed to her neck flowed freely. Fortunately it hadn't cut her too deeply. She glared at him, and threw a large amount of shuriken at him. He vanished from sight, using his speed to avoid the sharp stars. He ran along the wall, narrowly avoiding the weapons.

He jumped once he reached his desired speed, and seemed to flit in the air, as if one with the wind. His emerald eyes glinted in the light, and he dove down like an eagle intent on it's prey, his sword extended along his arm.

Tenten watched in awe as the blade came a scant inch from her head, the end about to thrust into her head.

"I...I yield!"

Okami put his sword back after checking for nicks. Tenten fully approved of his weapon care.

"Winner, Okami Mitarashi!"

Naruto cheered, grinning like an idiot. Sasuke smirked, and said to Okami once he reached the top, "I see you put that sword we gave you to good use."

Okami gave him a wolf grin.

"I practice with it at least three times a week for three hours."

"Naruto Uzamaki versus Kiba Inuzuka!"

Okami whispered to his brother, "Use his sensitive nose against him!"

Naruto smirked, and went down.

An hour later he beat Kiba by using Okami's advice. Unfortunately for Kiba he had three spicy bento boxes, four bean filled onigiri and Okami's special takoyaki. The stench was so bad that Okami had tears in his eyes from the smell. Kiba was out like a light. Akamaru had to be carried away by the medic ninja.

When Naruto got up top, Okami began waving the air in front of him, trying not to gag.

"I swear to Tsukiyomi that is the _last_ time I let you eat that combination of food!"

Naruto doubled over laughing with Sasuke.

"Sasuke Uchiha versus Neji Hyuuga!"

"Good luck, and don't let the fate otaku get too close or you'll be paying for it."

Sasuke took his stance, prepared for the match to start.

Two hours later Neji was beaten, barely. Sasuke limped up to the stands, and Okami helped him to the medic ninja's area.

Once the other battles were over, the standings were announced. In one month, a tournament would be held in front of the nobles and other villages. Depending on how they did in a one on one battle in front of them, they would be made Chunin.

Okami couldn't wait.


	3. Chapter 3

Normally walking to the hot springs would be fun. But Anko had warned her team if she caught them spying on the women again she would have them babysitting Konohamaru for a month. Still, it would be nice to soak away the five days they had just spent in the forest.

Too bad there was already a pervert on a frog looking through a hole. Annoyed,Okami said loudly enough for the women to hear him, "Aren't you a little old to be peeping on women in the springs?"

Several kunoichi went around the fence and began chasing the man. Who somehow managed to avoid getting hit by the senbon needles.

The next day they were going to practice their chakra exercises when he arrived again. Annoyed he said "Leave me alone! I'm trying to find inspiration for my books!"

Okami stared at him.

"What books? Those Icha Icha ones? Or are you trying to top that idiot?"

"I am the great Jiraiya, also called the Toad Sage of Konoha and the mysterious author of Icha Icha Paradise!" he glared at Okami when he said this.

Okami remembered something as he vanished to his home and came right back.

"My mother said if I ever ran into you to ask if you would sign her books. She wants to one up Kakashi the lazy hound."

"And who is your mother?"

"Anko Mitarashi, the snake bitch of the dango stands, former student of Orochimaru the snake traitor, and total sadist of the T and I corps," said the three in unison.

"You do realize you said that in unison, right?" he sweat dropped.

"Our sensei and my mother drilled that into our heads in case someone asks about her," shivered Okami.

Jiraiya took a long look at him.

"You wouldn't happen to be the prodigy wolf boy would you?"

"Okami Mitarashi, the only wolf summoner who can become a wolf on queue at your service."

"Naruto Uzamaki, resident nuisance and partner in crime to Okami."

"Uchiha Sasuke. Okami's cousin and the only person in the village who can summon crows and ravens at the same time...or turn into one."

After a brief but highly informative discussion, Jiraiya took Naruto away for some intensive training. Sasuke and Okami looked at each other, then Okami introduced him to his magic teacher. The man was already used to Okami and his views on magic (which he approved of) so he agreed to show Sasuke how to connect with his inner mage. (Which involved meditation, and _lots_ of it.)

* * *

Okami on the other hand, decided to see if there was a C rank he could take alone. He had heard rumors from Kotetsu and Izumo that there was a werewolf in the area and he wanted to see if it was true...and to help the poor sod out if it was.

So he walked to the Hokage's office and asked the old man "Is it true that there's a werewolf around?"

Sarutobi looked at him. How he heard that one he would never know. But...Okami was the perfect shinobi for this particular job and if he was lucky the village would get a werewolf on the payroll. It would definitely boost mission requests!

"It's been sighted around the outside forests, most notably around the Kikyo mountain area. If you can bring it back or get rid of it you'll receive C rank or in the case of bringing back alive, B rank pay."

"Deal!"

There he was. A man with tawny hair and amber colored eyes. Okami switched to wolf, and he could see...an tawny wolf bound by shackles of blood.

That...was more than confusing. Why would he bind his affliction using blood shackles?

So he did something he normally avoided.

He summoned his personal pack and went half wolf, half human.

"You. Who are you and why do you trespass on my territory?" Okami half growled.

The man turned, startled.

"Who...are you?"

"I am the Wolf summoner of Konoha,. Okami. Why have you come here. And _why the hell did you bind your other form?_" asked Okami, surprised.

"You...can see my curse?"

"I can more than see that you idiot. What the hell possessed you to use blood shackles on your wolf form?"

The man was very startled. This was not how things were supposed to go. Dumbledore had asked him if he would go to Konoha to find someone he knew and bring him back. He said nothing about anyone being able to see his werewolf side!

"You have three choices."

He paid attention. Something about how he said those words told him he'd best listen.

"One. I kill you and get a reduced pay for hauling your soon-to-be beyond dead ass in."

He gulped.

"Two. You come quietly and I may consider helping you with the painful transformation every full moon. I get a higher pay for bringing you in alive."

"And three?"

"You leave and don't come back anytime soon. What's it going to be?"

"You know how to help with my transformations? Are you a werewolf as well?"

"No. I am a wolf who prefers to pretend he's human most days."

_That's a hell of an odd answer._

"A wolf who pretends he's human?"

"Alright, I have a question for you. Depending on your answer I may be able to help you."

The werewolf looked at him. Then he noticed the wolves staring intently at him.

"Are you a man who becomes a wolf on the full moon, or are you a wolf who becomes a man when it passes?"

Something seemed very important about how he answered. He could hear Moony from his cage with his answer.

Should he repeat what Moony said? Or should he answer for himself? The wolf within him growled, warning him that he would make his full moon nights even worse if he answered wrong.

"I am a wolf who becomes a man."

Okami grinned, his canine teeth were a bit long. Almost like a vampire.

"Good answer. Are you sure about that? A true wolf wouldn't use blood to bind himself."

The sound of chains falling was heard throughout the forest. The man felt freer somehow, and he had a good idea why. The thing he tried for years to hold back was finally free. Moony howled into the night.

Okami shifted into his wolf form and howled with him. The man could feel Moony raise his hackles in challenge. The other wolves began to synchronize their howls to match the other wolf. They all looked to the other wolf as their leader.

Moony took that as a challenge.

_Do you really want to challenge the only wolf around who can teach your human side to truly become a wolf?_

Moony backed down reluctantly.

_What is your human name?_

**My human side calls me Moony. His name is Remus Lupin.**

Something clicked in Okami's mind. He remembered someone called Moony from his past. Then he recognized the name.

Moony and Remus was the name of one of his birth parent's friends...and one of his uncles by magical adoption. It was on that inheritance test he took when he first realized he had magic.

_Follow me if you want to permanently get rid of those shackles._

* * *

Okami lead Remus straight to the Hokage's office, and received his pay. Once he explained to his mother about the mission and what he would be doing for the month, she let him go.

"Alright, first thing's first. My name is Okami Mitarashi. For the next month I will be teaching you what it means to be a true wolf. Any questions?"

"Why are you wearing a Japanese wolf mask?"

"Oh...Hokage-sama gave this to me after I brought you back as a reward. He said even if I lose the tournament about to start in a month I'll be given Chunin rank. Which means no more lame missions and better pay."

"Chunin?"

"I'm taking the Chunin exam with my team. A Chunin is basically a journeyman. I am a shinobi, or what you Brits would call a ninja."

Remus stared at him. Originally he hadn't noticed it, but the boy's scent was familiar. Very familiar. The wolves had masked it earlier, but it was clearer now.

Then he realized where he caught that scent before.

"Harry?"

Okami stiffened.

"I wondered when you would realize who I was. I am Okami Mitarashi now. Have been for years. And I remember you very well Uncle Remus."

"Why are you here? Why aren't you at Hogwarts?"

"I declined their precious invitation. I like being a ninja. Besides, I can't leave my family behind. Sasuke would be upset if his only remaining cousin left him for a school that would only use and discard him."

"You have a cousin?"

"Two. Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha. Apparently my father was a descendant of an Uchiha who left the village for the outside world. Then there's my brother Naruto, who doesn't have any one else who will stand beside him and not treat him like a demon."

"And on your mother's side?"

"Unless you know of anyone in England with the name Pendragon, I doubt it."

Remus stilled, "Pendragon?"

"That's what the inheritance test said. Lily Potter Pendragon."

Remus couldn't believe it. An inheritance test couldn't lie...which meant that Lily was related to Arthur Pendragon! Or Mordred. Either way it meant that Albus lied to them. Petunia wasn't Lily's sister by blood.

"Anyway, let's get started. First off, what comes to mind when you think wolf?"

"A curse I've had to live with since I was eight."

"Before you were eight?"

"I don't know. Howling at the moon, domesticated dog, vicious when crossed?"

At each word Okami drooped.

"First off, most modern dogs aren't even close to a wolf, and if any of the resident wolves hear you refer to them as dogs they're liable to bite you where the sun don't shine. And that's without getting into the summoned wolves. Second, they aren't vicious if you don't run."

Remus stared at him.

Okami had an amusing idea.

"I think you need to learn a new appreciation for wildlife Remus. Follow me."

He lead his uncle into the forest outside the Hokage monument. It took him a moment to find what he was looking for, and when he did he smirked. A short whistle and down came...a squirrel.

Remus was mystified as to why Okami had looked for a squirrel of all things. The animal chittered at him, and Okami grinned.

"Now look, I would appreciate it if you taught my friend here a new appreciation for all forest creatures. Think you can do that?"

The squirrel chittered a yes from what Remus could tell. Who knew when Dumbledore sent him on this task he would end up talking to a squirrel of all things?

"First lesson about wolves, hell animals in general. Animal language is pretty much universal,depending on the species. Reptiles can talk to other reptiles, mammals to other mammals and so on. Let Moony translate for you until you get the hang of it."

He must have looked incredulous, because Okami laughed.

* * *

For the next three hours Remus debated philosophy with a squirrel. He knew full well if his old friend Prongs were still alive he would laugh himself back to death from disbelief...because Remus actually lost the debate.

Thank god Sirius was in Azkaban, or he would never let him live this one down.

**(In Azkaban Sirius sneezed. Then shifted as he curled closer to keep from dying of a cold.)**

Okami gave him a wolf grin.

"So have we learned a new appreciation for animals?"

The werewolf looked sheepish. Okami laughed.

"Don't feel bad, several new shinobi often find themselves on the losing end of an argument with a squirrel. Which is why I make sure never to bother them about subjects other than if they'd seen someone heading in a certain direction."

"I never knew a squirrel could win a discussion about magical theory."

"Small animals have to be observant. Otherwise they get eaten by predators like me."

"What next?"

"We move to summon animals. In this case I bring out my wolves."

Okami made the hand signs for his jutsu and said "Summoning Jutsu!"

A small wolf pup came out and looked at him.

"What's the job?"

"Nice to see you too Howl. Meet Remus. I want you to teach him the proper appreciation for wolves."

Howl sniffed him good.

"This man is half wolf. Why would he need any lessons?"

"Because he bound his wolf form with blood shackles. Maybe if he learned not to fear his inner wolf he could become stronger."

"Shouldn't we move this lesson to our forest then? We don't want the other pack to get angry at us."

"True. To the forest of death then."

Remus entered the forest with some suspicion. The last thing he wanted to do was enter a place called the Forest of Death.

"I just got back from here when you arrived. Luckily for you the snakes and more dangerous predators know me. Otherwise we would have to deal with the damn tigers."

Remus stared, then let it drop. Some headache inducing conversations just weren't worth it. This was one of those times.

He spent a full three days learning about wolves. It would have been sooner, but it had taken him that long to get over the fact that he was talking to a half grown wolf cub.

Either way Moony promised to go easier on him next full moon, which was next week, provided he was allowed to run with an actual wolf pack in the forest. Okami agreed to let him run with the Forest Pack.

* * *

By the time the tournament arrived, Remus had been invited to watch how an almost Chunin level shinobi handles a fight.

When the whole ordeal was over, Remus realized that had Albus bothered to hire and pay these ninja, the entire Voldemort/Dumbledore war that had reached a standstill for the moment would have been over within days. He would have wondered if Albus was unaware of the opportunity these shinobi created to end the war before it restarted, then he remembered Albus sent Snape a few years ago.

He knew. Clearly he wanted pawns under his control rather than professional mercenaries who actually knew what they hell they were doing.

For some odd reason Naruto arrived really late, and Sasuke didn't even show up. They did wait for Sasuke, since most people wanted to see him fight Gaara.

Okami was up first, then Naruto, Shikamaru, and lastly Sasuke. Shino was after Shikamaru since the match between him and a foreign nin was canceled. According to the rumors the other ninja had been found dead.

Not his problem.

Okami was up against Gaara's older brother Kankuro. Which from what he could tell used puppets.

_Great. My first proper battle against a foreign ninja and it's a long range one. I hate long range fighters._

For Okami, a long range fighter was as close to a weakness as he got. He preferred the middle ground. Didn't mean that Anko hadn't worked on that problem extensively.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Okami summoned his smaller wolves. He went half feral, and prepared to lead his pack.

Okami's eyes turned slitted, his nails elongated into claws, his feet were no longer human. He even had a tail on his back for better balance. The only thing he didn't get were the ears.

He growled, and the wolves came to attention.

"_Listen. This guy most likely uses poisons to compensate for his weak puppets. Do NOT let anything nick you. Got it?"_

The wolves howled as one in confirmation.

Okami directed his wolves into the cracks of Kankuro's defense, eventually breaking through his puppet line. Once he was inside his defense, he sent his wolves away. Most of them were exhausted. Before the puppet master could blink, Okami had him pinned and helpless against his kunai.

"Winner, Okami Mitarashi!"

By the time Okami was up again, the competition had gone down considerably. It was his brothers, Gaara and Shino left. Then they paired up Gaara against Sasuke and things went to hell.

It all started normally. At first Sasuke got a speed boost which was unusual, but not worrying. Until Gaara surrounded himself with what he called the perfect defense. Sasuke summoned the trick Kakashi taught him (was blackmailed into it by the Hokage) and broke through.

This is when everything went downhill. Gaara, experiencing pain for the first time ever, went ballistic. And then there was that creature inside the sand wall that Sasuke caught a glimpse of. That thing sent shivers down his spine.

* * *

Remus watched in horror as that claw came out of the sand ball. That thing sent shivers down his spine. Moony was growling in a fearsome way.

Meanwhile his pup went after the trio which had left. His cousin and brother went after him, after talking to the man who smelled of several hounds.

So he went to the silver haired man with one eye and drew his wand. He quickly asked "Who should I aim for?"

Kakashi looked at him surprised. Not many civilians could withstand a genjutsu and remain aware. So he replied, "Anyone who doesn't wear the same symbol on my forehead plate. Attack anyone with an hourglass or sound note."

Remus nodded, and began hitting anyone without the Leaf symbol on their headbands with hexes, stunners and full body binds. He wouldn't kill anyone if he could help it.

He left fifty people hanging by their ankles with no way down, twenty unconscious and thirty frozen stiff. Kakashi would be the first to admit he was impressed.

Okami summoned Howl, the wolf in his pack with the strongest nose. Soon they were on their way after the Sand siblings.

Shino arrived soon, and managed to stall with Shikamaru. Which left them to deal with the Sand trio. Okami privately wished them luck.

Suddenly Kankuro broke off, and Sasuke went to handle him. Naruto and Okami quickly found Gaara and Temari. Gaara was still bleeding.

Okami immediately went on the defensive, as he sensed the one-tailed raccoon stirring. Then the sand began to creep up the boy's arm, slowly turning him into the Shukaku. Naruto stiffened, as he felt the Fox begin to answer the power of the other demon. Okami sent Howl back, and prayed he wouldn't have to bring out the one wolf he had yet to summon.

The four tailed bijuu, the leader of the Summoned Wolves. If he ever summoned that wolf, he would have to prove his worth as the Alpha. And that was something he really didn't look forward to.

Naruto was pinned to a tree, and Okami knew he had only one option if he wanted to survive this. He would have to summon the Shibi.

He began to pour his chakra into his arms, drawing on his reserves which were for the most part untapped. He kept this up, and made the hand signs.

"Summoning Jutsu! Bijuu Wolf Summon!"

Naruto watched in shock as Okami began to pour his chakra into the ground, the symbols for summoning growing larger until they consumed several trees. The smoke was cloying and took a full minute to disperse.

* * *

What stood in that forest was something out of a nightmare and a dream.

Okami was on the head of the largest wolf to ever live. Four long tails swayed in the breeze, each a different color. Red, silver, black and tawny. Long streaks ran along the underside of each tail. The paws and legs were a silver color, with grayish streaks running down. The claws were as big as the Kyuubi's own. The head was pure wolf, as if it was the original wolf. Long canines poked out of the fiend's mouth, white as ivory. The eyes however, drew his attention.

The eyes were ice blue, and just as cold.

The wolf howled into the horizon, and glared at Okami.

"**So you finally dared to summon me, insolent pup. Now we shall see who is the true Alpha of the pack."**

Okami stiffened, and felt himself fall into his mind.

There stood the wolf, and he was ready to fight for dominance. He charged, and Okami reacted as he always did. He had to win this, or the wolves would never answer to him again. He returned again and again, striking the places where he knew the wolf would be vulnerable.

But it was clear that this wolf would never be taken by such tricks. He had lived longer than any wolf by covering his weaknesses and turning them into strength.

Okami was at his breaking point. He could feel his magic begin to heal him, and then he realized something.

He had come at the wolf at the wrong angle. Yes he was a wolf at heart, but he was also a human. But more than that he was a shinobi and a mage. Who ever said he had to fight fair with a demon?

He turned into his wolf form, and prepared to show this hound some new tricks.

His paws erupted into emerald flames, and the old demon was in shock. Suddenly Okami struck the wolf square in the leg, and kept attacking, mixing his strikes with magic and chakra. By the time he was done, the Wolf was on it's knees.

"**I...submit. Congratulations young wolf. Never in my years have I ever come across a mortal who could call upon the power of the Shadowflame Wolves."**

Okami came to a moment later, and felt the difference immediately. Now the wolf was no longer frightening to him, and they were attacking the Shukaku together. He had been fighting the wolf for a full two minutes.

_Old wolf, there's something you should know._

**What is that pup?**

_I have no intention of completely taking over. You can ask your second in command. I want to hear your advice during battle._

**So you acknowledge that I am your senior and will listen to me?**

_Yes, Alpha._

The wolf grinned. He liked this pup. He may have beaten him for dominance, but he clearly had a sound mind for power. He knew he couldn't compete with him, but that didn't mean he wasn't willing to listen when the occasion called for it.


	4. Chapter 4

Okami stared down Subaku, before the wolf charged.

_What should I call you old one?_

**Hmm ?**

_What name do you go by other than Shibi?_

**Why should I have a name other than Shibi?**

_An element of surprise can help in a battlefield. And if people found I could summon the four tailed bijuu they would bring up their guard more than they already do._

**Fine. What would you suggest?**

_Blaze? Shin? Yoru? Or how about Tsuki?_

**Not that last one. That's a female name if I ever heard one. Though that could be used for any female pups I sire.**

_I would call you Howl, but it's already taken by my best bud._

**Yoru is fine.**

Okami grinned.

_Okay! From now on I'll call you Yoru in public. That should keep the villagers and enemy from realizing who you are._

The newly designated Yoru struck Shukaku again and again, and Okami briefed a glance at Naruto.

Naruto was free, and preparing to help his brother.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Naruto groaned as he saw a small toad instead of the chief toad like he wanted. Naruto protected the small toad from being crushed, and when Gaara finally noticed the boy had escaped, he went to crush Naruto some other way.

Naruto was surrounded by a wall of sand on all sides. He was so exhausted from fighting, and barely had any chakra left to use. He felt a pulsating vibe from his stomach, like there were tiny butterflies fluttering around.

Naruto opened his eyes to see...

His friend and mentor Kyuubi staring at him. The collar shining bright against it's neck.

**What do you need brat?**

_I need chakra to summon the Boss Toad to help nii-chan._

**Fine. But tell that old hound he owes me for helping him.**

_What old hound?_

**The wolf your brother summoned is the Shibi, or four tailed wolf. He's similar to me, only his power is slightly weaker.**

_Okay. I'll tell him._

Naruto tried again.

The puff of smoke was as tall as Yoru. Out of the smoke a large pipe emerged, followed by a scarred toad the size of the battling creatures already out.

The Chief Toad had come to do battle. Though he did argue wit Naruto a bit just for the hell of it.

Now it was two against one. Gaara went limp, and the Shukaku fully emerged and took control.

Naruto helped Okami even the score, and his brother grinned when Naruto turned the Toad into the Fox long enough for Naruto to try and land a blow on Gaara to wake him up.

While his first attempt didn't work, Okami helped him for round two, and Naruto landed a solid punch to the red head's cheek, waking him up quite effectively.

Gaara glared at them both, and went after Naruto first. Okami tried to help his brother, but Naruto took a hit. So Naruto went in for the kill. The sand under his feet began to swallow him up, and he could barely make it to Gaara. Since his hands and feet were tied up by the sand under the other boy's control.

So he did the next best thing to a punch. A good old fashioned headbutt. Okami couldn't help the look of disbelief.

**That is your litter mate?**

_My goofy, prankster brother. We may not be brothers by blood, but I can always depend on Naruto to have my back. In terms of a wolf pack, Naruto is like my second-in-command. Howl is a close second followed by my cousins Sasuke and Itachi._

**Naruto is your pack brother then?**

_In every way that counts._

…**Well you could always do worse than a fox for a pack.**

_Thanks...I think. How do you feel about Ravens, crows, snakes and dragons?_

**…**

_Sasuke can summon ravens and crows, Itachi summons dragons, and my mother brings forth huge snakes to annoy us some days. And I can talk to every snake in the Forest of Death for some reason._

**I am not a big fan of snakes, but so long as they don't get on my nerves they are tolerable. But Manda is just plain annoying, and should be killed on sight.**

_Manda?_

**Leader of the Summon Snakes. Highly arrogant and a pain in the ass to deal with. I can point him out to you in case you deal with a snake summoner who isn't your mother.**

_Thanks._

With that last headbutt, Naruto had dispersed the demon Shukaku for now. But there was the problem of Gaara, who while tired out was not yet down for the count.

In a desperate last attempt to get the boy to stop, Naruto launched himself as the Chief Toad's blade dispersed in a cloud of smoke.

Gaara and Naruto landed a solid punch on each other, and Okami let Yoru go back, though the wolf did leave an odd thing behind for the new Alpha Wolf.

It was a pendant, of a howling wolf. The piece was made of pure silver and ebony, each detail masterfully carved, each curve of it's teeth were as sharp as a new kunai. The tail was upturned and it's muzzle was more wolfish than most could achieve. The paws were perfectly formed, and it was standing, unlike the usual amulets that Okami saw where it was sitting.

Gaara was barely awake, just like Naruto. Naruto crawled to Gaara, and felt a kinship with the boy. Okami let him.

If anyone could help Gaara come to grips with not being alone, it was his brother. Naruto had experienced the same things Gaara had all through his life.

Fear, suspicion, hatred, loneliness, sorrow, pain.

But unlike Gaara, Naruto had Okami and Sasuke. They had gotten him through the tough times, and now Naruto had more friends than before.

Gaara only had himself for years. But not anymore.

Now that he had connected to Naruto and Okami, he wouldn't be alone anymore.

Okami arrived back at the village and was stunned. Sasuke showed up with Remus, and helped with Naruto. Gaara had been carried away by his siblings, who were shocked at the dramatic change in their stoic brother who was very homicidal.

Since the battle was over, Okami summoned his largest wolf pack to help ferry the injured to the hospital, and to help assess damage.

A week later they held the funerals. The third Hokage, who had been attacked by Orochimaru the same day, was only just recovering from the attack. He had only escaped with his life though help from Remus.

Surprisingly enough, it turned out that magic and chakra, when not used together by someone trained to use both, did not mix well. So when Remus saw the Hokage in trouble and no one could help him, he took his wand and did as instinct told him.

He moved his hand like he was drawing a doorway, and the wand cut through the chakra barrier like a hot knife through butter. As soon as Remus stepped though, the barrier closed in again.

The four holding up the barrier couldn't do a thing about it, since if they left their posts, they would open themselves up to attack from the Third, and if one was taken out the barrier would come down. Then they would have to deal with the ANBU guard.

So they did nothing. Even when Remus hit Orochimaru with a hex, and then used a partial body bind to prevent him from using his hands.

It wasn't until Remus hit the man with a stunner that the battle ended. Orochimaru, who had no experience dealing with fully trained wizards, fell with ease. It didn't help that Remus had been practicing using wordless spells since he ran into Okami.

Once the barrier went down and Orochimaru left, the ANBU rushed in to help their leader. It was touch and go, but he eventually pulled through.

Though Ibiki and Anko did ask Remus something that had been bothering them quite a bit once the uproar went down.

Why had the werewolf not killed anyone with his magic? They could understand Okami's reasoning for not using magic to kill, because he believed magic should be used for life and not death.

Which is when Remus revealed the issue of the Ministry, and their laws on certain spells.

The killing curse. The imperius curse. The cruciatus curse.

Using any of these would immediately alert the Ministry and get him killed.

After learning of the laws against werewolves and several other magical creatures, the Hokage gave Remus immediate citizenship into Konoha. It didn't hurt that Remus had gone in to help their village leader once he realized the situation.

Remus was the first werewolf to become a Konoha citizen.

Once the funerals were over, and the others had left, the newly minted Chunin were finally put on the roster.

Naruto, Sasuke, Okami, and Shikamaru were the newest Chunin in the village. Naruto was ecstatic at the fact, especially since now he was in the same league as Iruka.

But Anko did have a problem, because eventually her son would find out about the fact that she had kept him from going to England. Remus had found out and knew she had done the right thing.

If Okami had left the village for England any sooner, Dumbledore would have taken him away for good.

* * *

It took three weeks of C rank missions before Okami found one that really interested him.

It was a request for guards at Hogwarts. An escaped convict by the name of Sirius Black was reported to be heading to the school, and the headmaster wanted to keep his students safe.

The request had just come in, so the escapee had clearly not reached the school. The term would start in two weeks. Remus had been requested as well, to serve as the Defense teacher for the year.

Okami decided to take the request. It sounded interesting, but he asked that he take a team of his choosing for back-up.

Since that was the condition that the Third had made many years prior for Okami to even leave the village for England, he granted it. He only had one thing he needed Okami and Naruto to do.

Find the Slug Princess known as Tsunade. He wanted the granddaughter of the First Hokage to lead the village. He couldn't handle another battle of that caliber.

Okami and Naruto agreed to go. Itachi would not be able to see them off, since he had taken a long term undercover mission in the Akatsuki. He had been gone for a long two years, and he couldn't send any letters at all.

Still, the mere fact that his last missive was that he had successfully breached their organization was hopeful. To make sure he made it in, the Hokage had his spies spread the lie that it was Itachi who had killed the Uchiha clan.

Sasuke was not happy about that, since it meant that he would have to fight his brother the next time he saw him unless told otherwise. Which did not sit well with the cousins.

Still, Okami went with Naruto and Jiraiya to find Tsunade. In return for helping him with his newest book, Jiraiya promised to buy as much ramen as the two could eat at Ichiraku's.

The poor sod would never again treat the boys unless he absolutely had to. Still, they made good time in finding Tsunade. Between Howl and Okami, they would be able to track the woman.

The only issue was catching her scent. Without that the wolves were useless.

Still, the boys regarded this as a vacation. Between the carnivals, festivals and games, they had a lot of fun.

Okami grinned, as he managed to catch some fish despite his brother's lack of luck at the game. He would laugh at the cross look on Naruto's face when he lost at the games.

Often Naruto would find his brother humming a tune, one he had not heard before. Or reading a book his brother had found at random.

Finally Naruto asked his brother something that had been bothering him for some time.

"Hey, Nii-chan. Could you teach me to read Latin? I can read katakana and kanji just fine, but Latin keeps kicking my ass!"

Okami grinned. He had long ago learned how to read anything he got his hands on. It was his little hobby to read books from the outside veil.

"Well I see no reason not to teach you, since once we find this Tsunade I'll be bringing you and a few others outside the Veil to guard a school full of magic users."

So at night, when Jiraiya had fallen asleep, Okami showed Naruto how to read in what those outside the veil called English. Okami knew many languages as a hobby, even a few dead ones.

Naruto clearly held a love for language as his brother did. So Okami showed him many others, aside from romanji.

Meanwhile they went on, trying to find the legendary sucker, er...Slug Princess.

Okami learned of her nickname from Jiraiya out of hand and it cracked him up. (He made a note to challenge the woman at poker should she become Hokage. It would be hilarious.)

* * *

He had waited patiently for years. The day when his pawn would return. And it had come.

Harry Potter would return to England. And he would not leave alive.

Dumbledore smiled. His golden boy would come back of his own free will, unaware of his plans to use him to bring more power under his control.

With the return of Potter the stray members of the Light would once again follow him. They had strayed with the death of the Potters, and Harry's subsequent disappearance had not helped in the least.

The Longbottom, Patil, Peverell, Bones, Finnegan, Brown, and half of the Gryffindors who graduated in the past ten years had quit believing in him.

And he knew why. McGonagall had discreetly looked into the disappearance of Harry once she heard, and found out the true depth of Petunia's hatred of magic.

Petunia had thought nothing of leaving her nephew in a country known for raising cold blooded killers, who thought nothing of murdering innocent children.

Petunia had nothing but contempt for the magical world. And that contempt included her nephew. Had they not left Harry in the Elemental Countries, his life would have been full of pain and hatred.

Never loved, always despised.

Once she realized that, she spread the word to her lions. The very fact that Dumbledore, the leader of the Light, was willing to leave the son of James Potter and the boy-who-lived in a house like that...

Dumbledore could turn Dark with ease if he couldn't foresee this happening.

* * *

Itachi did not like being there. But he had no choice. He had been assigned the one tailed beast he didn't want to hunt.

He had been given the assignment of capturing Naruto. And to make matters worse, rumor had it that Konoha had acquired another tailed beast. The illusive four-tailed wolf.

Though how they managed to get that one when Hidan couldn't, he had no idea.

* * *

Okami and Naruto impatiently waited for Jiraiya to return. In the meantime Okami taught his brother how to read and speak Latin properly. Unknown to most of the Konoha populace, Naruto _did_ have brain. Most days he used it to play pranks or lighthearted payback. But when he wasn't planning a prank he read.

Kyuubi had accidentally unlocked his ability to understand languages, and ever since then Okami had helped his brother learn more of the language from the Outside. So far Naruto could speak English, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Spanish and French. It was only thanks to the Fox that he could keep them straight.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

Okami got up and opened it. There, standing in the doorway was the last person he expected to see. His elder cousin, Itachi!

"Itachi?"

Then he saw the large shark person behind him and put the pieces together.

"Oh crap..."

Before Naruto could look to see who was at the door, Okami bolted and dragged him outside using the window. Soon they were on the roof, and the two were right behind them.

Kisame went after Naruto while Itachi went to deal with his cousin. Kisame used his unusual sword to absorb the Fox's chakra. Fortunately, Okami had foreseen that this might happen at some point, because he had dragged Naruto with him to Magic lessons.

With a minor wave of his hand, Naruto managed to have the shark known as Kisame up in the air hung by his ankles. To make matters worse for Kisame, Remus had taught both boys how to bind the arms of enemy ninjas without getting too close to them.

Naruto raised his new wand up and yelled _"Petrificus Totales!" _

Kisame's hands were forced to go to his sides, which made it impossible to form the handsigns. To add to that, Okami hit him with a spell which made it impossible to see or hear what they did next.

Since Kisame was officially out of the battle, Okami turned to his cousin and started to mock battle him.

"Hey Itachi."

Itachi gave him a genuine smile as he sparred with Okami, making it appear to everyone that they were actually fighting.

"Hello wolf-boy. How has ninja life been treating you?"

"We ended up with Okaa-san as our ninja sensei. Thank Kami-sama we're Chuunin now."

"I thought Anko let you torture the cat from hell?"

"She does, but now we don't have to chase it unless we're in a really bad mood."

Itachi grinned wildly.

"And once we find the Legendary Sucker, I'm taking Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata to Europe."

"Isn't that the Outside?"

"Hinata will stick with one of us until she learns English at least. How's life in the Akatsuki?"

"Boring...though it does get amusing in the mornings. This idiot Tobi wakes every up and we all try to kill him. Hidan is just annoying, everyone makes fun of Deidara because he looks like a chick, and Konan is the only woman even in the group."

Okami had this weird smirk as he asked "How's Mister Cuddles?"

Itachi scowled at his cousin.

"My _cat_ is fine...though I still want to know how you scared the crap out of it so it wouldn't scratch up anything."

Naruto snickered.

"You seriously don't want to know."

"Though it is funny to see Kisame's face when Cuddles goes into his room. He shrieks like a girl."

When Jiraiya appeared, Itachi made a show of getting his partner loose, when all that really happened was that Okami hit him with a powerful _Finite Incantum_ spell.

Since Okami and Naruto managed to hold their own against two S-class criminals, he decided to show them an advanced jutsu. Naruto would learn something the Fourth created, while Okami would learn about sealing jutsu.

* * *

Okami ended up being the one to find Tsunade first, stumbling out of a bar. A woman with short dark hair...and was that a _pig?_ For some reason the darker haired woman looked familiar.

Then it hit him. Those eyes and hair...she reminded him of his mother.

"Excuse me miss. But are you by any chance related to Anko Mitarashi?"

The woman with the pig looked startled.

"How do you know my cousin?" she asked warily.

"Anko is my mother and sensei. Crazy as hell, though."

"Anko...had a kid. The hells must have froze over then."

"She took an interest in me, and adopted me the next week."

"What's your name brat?" said the blond.

He gave her a wolfish grin.

"Okami Mitarashi, newly minted Chunin of the Leaf village and a pain in the ass of anyone who gets on my doomed list."

Tsunade was definitely not interested in becoming Hokage. Even with the promise that any debt she had incurred over the years would be payed off. Too many bad memories happened for her to return.

When Okami left to give Jiraiya the news, she had another visitor.

Orochimaru had found her. It seemed that the hex Remus used on him during the fight refused to wear off. So he wanted Tsunade's help to try and get rid of it.

He gave her a day to think it over.

Tsunade looked over the two annoying brats who kept asking her to become Hokage. Finally she came up with a way to amuse herself and possibly get rid of them at the same time.

She bet Naruto to complete the Rasangan in one week. But she had a special bet for his brother, who was far more irritating.

"I want you to do something embarrassing in public. So long as it's legal for a minor."

Okami's face scrunched as he thought that one over. He could interpret that one in many ways, but one kept coming back to him.

"Would singing count?"

Tsunade smirked. The brat looked like one of those tone deaf idiots who loved to sing in the shower. The kind that most people _begged_ not to sing.

"It counts."

"Am I allowed to use a henge so people don't know which village I'm from?"

"Fine, but you still have to look mostly the same."

Okami grinned, "Where and when?"

Tsunade told him, and he prepared for his little song in broad daylight.


	5. Chapter 5

Okami decided to have a bit of fun with the bet Tsunade laid on him. Since he honestly had no problem singing in public, he could turn the whole thing to his advantage. It would take a few days to set up of course.

* * *

_**Fenrir Wolf set to play at the open house theatre in three days! Tickets on sale now!**_

Tsunade read the note with interest. This _Fenrir Wolf_ was highly popular for someone with the bare minimum of ninja training. No one really knew which village the three brothers hailed from, but it was a lax one.

So she bought tickets for her and Shizune. Her apprentice would love to see that show. After all, where Fenrir Wolf went, the amazing _Zodiac 3_ went as well a few times. And Shizune loved that group.

Jiraiya of course got a ticket as well...for his book of course.

Orochimaru and Kabuto bought tickets. It would be a good way to blow time until they met with Tsunade.

* * *

"You ready bro?" asked Okami.

Okami had borrowed Naruto from his training so they could preform on stage. Sasuke had gotten the memo through the crows and had managed to make it on time.

In unison the three put their hands in the proper sign and said together "Henge!"

Where there teens stood wearing Leaf headbands there were now three older teens with blank headbands and longer hair.

Fenrir, the lead singer of the group, stood with long raven black hair in a ponytail that was streaked in green and silver highlights. His clothes were dark, fashionable, and comfortable to wear for long periods. He had a enormous wolf with four tails on his back. His shoes were the standard kind worn by most ninjas in the field.

Hati, the guitarist was about the same height as Fenrir, with shorter hair than his that went down to his neck. His hair was in a short tail tied off with an odd ribbon that born the symbol of the moon. His clothes were deep blue with red and white highlights. On his back was a large two tailed cat.

Skoll, the youngest of the group and the drummer. He wore mostly bright colors like orange and yellow. His blond hair lay flat and untamed. He was easily the most noticeable of the three, as he tended to be louder and more friendly. On his back was a large red fox with menacing eyes and nine tails.

They stepped out onto the stage, and the roar almost deafened them.

Once the introduction was over, they began.

"_I tried to kill my pain but only brought more,_

_(So much more,)_

_I lie dying and pouring,_

_Crimson regret and betrayal,_

_I'm dying, praying, bleeding and screaming,_

_Am I too lost…to be saved,_

_Am I too lost,_

_My god, _

_My tourniquet,_

_Return to me salvation,_

_My god, _

_My tourniquet,_

_Return to me salvation,_

_Do you remember me,_

_Lost for so long,_

_Will you be on the other side,_

_Or will you forget me,_

_I'm dying, praying, bleeding and screaming,_

_Am I too lost to be saved,_

_Am I too lost,_

_My god,_

_My tourniquet,_

_Return to me salvation,_

_My god,_

_My tourniquet,_

_Return to me salvation,_

_(Return to me salvation)_

_(I want to die)_

_My god, _

_My tourniquet, _

_Return to me salvation,_

_My god, _

_My tourniquet,_

_Return to me salvation,_

_My wounds cry for the grave, _

_My soul cries…for deliverance,_

_Will I be…denied, _

_Christ, Tourniquet,_

_My soul is saved."_

(Tourniquet by Evanescence)

"_Help me get my feet back to solid ground_

_Cause we're walking to the devil's beat_

_And it's trying to bring us down._

_Well the devil's get us rolling a 6-sided dice_

_And it's burning up the oils and melting down the ice_

_And the bank tills are ringing to the tune of war_

_Do you ever wonder what it is we're fighting for?_

_Oh it don't feel so good when the sun don't shine_

_Oh we gotta leave this place leave it all behind_

_oh before I lose my head and I lose my mind_

_Help me get my feet back to solid ground_

_Cause we're walking to the devil's beat_

_And it's trying to bring us down._

_Sweet mother nature's such a lonely girl_

_What's she gonna do when we sell the world_

_Time will only tell if the prophecy's true_

_Has the devil got the beat or has the beat got you._

_Oh it don't feel so good when the sun don't shine_

_Oh we gotta leave this place leave it all behind_

_oh before I lose my head and I lose my mind_

_Help me get my feet back to solid ground_

_Cause we're walking to the devil's beat_

_And it's trying to bring us down._

_Come on and help me get my feet back to solid ground_

_Cause we're walking to the devil's beat_

_And it's trying to bring us down._

_Oh it don't feel so good when the sun don't shine_

_Oh we gotta leave this place leave it all behind_

_oh before I lose my head and I lose my mind_

_Help me get my feet back to solid ground_

_Cause we're walking to the devil's beat_

_And it's trying to bring us down."_

(The Devil's Beat)

"_Clouds shroud a night with a waning moon _

_Quivering in the haze_

_A cruel trap involving a pair of crucified fledglings_

_Oh, since smoldering feelings lie firmly in their hearts..._

_Destruction!_

_Gently as the water, severely as the flower_

_Pierce with a trembling blade_

_Even when I shut the fated tears deep within my eyes_

_My eyelids remember you."_

(Opening to Basilisk)

"_Even if I wake from my dreams_

_I'll reach out my hand to yourselves_

_If our hearts can reach each other_

_With the same strength_

_Then I would be able to bare_

_The pain of many hearts_

_I can feel that it will arrive soon_

_When these walls will be torn down_

_The dawn_

_Even if we wake from our dreams_

_We'll have to keep running_

_Towards our unrevealed dreams_

_The gravity of my painful journey will draw me  
To you one day."_

_(Opening to Dot Hack Roots)  
_

Fenrir gave a bow, and announced that Zodiac 3 would be on after the next song, which lead to a loud cheer by the audience.

"_Angels and demons circle above me_

_Through the thorns to the stars_

_Only those unable to perceive its call_

_Do not know happiness_

_Watch in awe, watch in awe_

_Aeria gloris, Aeria gloris_

_Watch in awe, watch in awe_

_Aeria gloris, Aeria gloris_

_I am calling, calling now_

_Spirits rise and falling_

_To remain myself longer_

_Calling, calling, in the depths of longing_

_To remain myself longer_

_Watch in awe, aeria gloris."_

_(Opening to Ghost in the Shell)  
_

The crowd cheered loudly as they bowed and headed backstage. Three loud explosions rocked the stage, and from within the smoke, three separate figures emerged.

The first to appear had deep red hair with white streaks. Her eyes were a deep blue, so dark they were almost black. In her hair was a clip with a moon in silver. Her hair was in a long ponytail that went down to her waist. She was extremely pretty. She wore a short red skirt that went down to her knees, with a white sailor top that was lined in red. Her shoes were strapped boots that barely stayed on her feet.

The second had spiked golden hair in pigtails that rivaled the sun in color. In her hair was a clip with a sun in gold. Her eyes were a cheerful sapphire, and she was pretty in a mischievous way. Her outfit was a deep blue with streaks of gold and silver. She wore a sleeveless blue vest which barely held her endowments. Her skirt was a cheerful robin's egg blue that went halfway down to her knee. Her shoes were comfortable dancing slippers.

The third one was easily the most beautiful. Her raven-black hair was in a set of ponytails on either side of her head that went down to her waist. They were held in place by a pair of star clips. Her hakama was a crimson red and barely covered her elbows. Her skirt was a silvery color that went halfway down to her knees, and it was lined in emerald green. Her eyes were a lively emerald green that sparkled with mischief. Her shoes were a more feminine version of the sandals that kunoichi normally wore.

Each of the girls wore a blank headband, so as not to betray which village they came from. They also appeared to be about sixteen or seventeen.

"Greetings everyone! And welcome to our concert!" said Hoshi.

Each of the girls were known by their hair clip. Hoshi sang mostly, but couldn't dance. Taiyo was a great dancer, but she did the secondary vocals. Tsuki was a great dancer and singer, but she hated the spotlight. All of the girls were extremely pretty and talented, but they had their flaws as well.

Hoshi and Taiyo hated the spotlight with a passion, and were known to duck out of an autograph session repeatedly. Taiyo loved the spotlight and was often loud and brash, but her natural kindness appealed to everyone.

Combined they became the super popular girl group known as Zodiac 3.

"Who's ready to party!" yelled Taiyo.

A roar greeted that question, and the girls began to get ready. They didn't play instruments.

"_I let my childhood dreams_

_Flow freely out_

_In scribbles that don't fade_

_And they connect to a future I conceive_

_In a clear sky, endless blue_

_Captivates me, my heart is filled with innocence_

_I'll soon gain wings_

_That will let me fly freely about_

_My innocent eyes go on searching_

_I want to go beyond the sky_

_Of all my endless wishes_

_If only one of them comes true_

_I don't want to give it up to anyone_

_I'd like to grasp my dream_

_My childhood dreams_

_Forever continue to be drawn out_

_In scribbles that don't fade_

_The connect to a future that I wish for."_

"_Baby I wanna be your girl_

_Baby all I need is yourselves_

_Even if I'm with you that much_

_Even if I'm loved this much_

_Time won't take my side_

_And I can't become your girl_

_I thought so many times that it was okay_

_I'm sharing your with someone else_

_But I cry so many times because I don't like it_

_Even if it's a lie, even if it's just to comfort me_

_Please say_

_That you're the only one in my heart_

_And that the only one you love is me."_

_(Ending to Elven Lied)  
_

"_Just for you, all this world keeps turning, skewed slightly_

_No matter how many contradictions it's stuck with_

_Just for you, all this world_

_Let's go now_

_Basking in the spotlight that the sun and the moon make_

_I've been looking for a long time _

_For the Angel of Opportunity_

_The Angel was in you all the time_

_Stray away from a future and fate that has been promised_

_You actually have the key with the power to change everything_

_Gonna be alright!_

_Just for you, all this world keeps turning, skewed slightly_

_Accepting within lies and truth_

_Just for you, all this world_

_What's wrong with having at least one dream_

_People laugh at you for?"_

_(Opening to Those Who Hunt Elves2)  
_

"_It's like I'm tied up tight by the signs of love_

_I can't break free no matter what spell I try_

_Tranquil eyes that conceal sorrow behind them..._

_throw my heart into turmoil more than they ought to_

_You mean more to me than I do,_

_even though we both refuse to admit our feelings_

_You're the one for me_

_I don't care if you are a demon_

_Oh, this is a miracle that I've stumbled upon_

_Even these wounds that never fade, even this profound karma_

_Oh, I'll give you my love_

_Time and again, no matter where you are_

_I'll give you my love."_

_(Opening to Disgaia)  
_

_ "The rainbow colored wind is being blown..._

_Aiming for the distant cape..._

_The melody I could hear before sunrise..._

_Is a very nostalgic song!_

_The bird, flying towards the sky in the east_

_'Cause it's the shortcut to the end!_

_The paradise of the seven oceans..._

_After the night of the storm..._

_To be born again to convey my love!_

_The melodies of the the seven countries_

_Even when the day comes when everyone will leave from here..._

_I won't forget!"_

_(Found on Mermaid Pichi Pitch)  
_

"Everyone, this is our last song of the night. I hope you've enjoyed our concert!" said Tsuki.

"_Though you are so close,_

_I cannot tell you how I feel_

_The more strongly I feel,_

_The harder it is for me to find the words_

_What is sad is not fate..._

_but that all encounters come to an end._

_O incomplete beings..._

_awaken, for beyond the night_

_At the end of the desert_

_The truth surely awaits you!"_

_(Opening to the Third.)  
_

And with three loud bangs, Zodiac 3 left the stage. The crowd gave a loud cheer of approval before hitting the souvenir shop. It wasn't often that the two groups got together to play a concert.

They made more from selling their music than from the actual concerts.

* * *

Someone went up to Tsunade and her assistant and handed them exclusive passes backstage. Jiraiya, in the spirit of perverts everywhere, managed to sneak backstage as well.

And when they got back there, they were surprised.

"I believe the only one who has to finish their side of the bet is Naruto," said Okami smugly.

"What...?" said Shizune in disbelief.

"We...are both Fenrir Wolf and Zodiac 3. Thank Kami-sama for the Henge jutsu," said Naruto with a grin.

"Why?" asked Tsunade in clear confusion.

The three looked at each other and said simultaneously "We get paid more."

Jiraiya laughed. Ninja, as a rule, could only take so many missions. And the only ones who made a decent salary per month were the jounin. Chunin and Genin barely made ends meet, particularly when they had to buy training scrolls _and_ weapons.

The fact that these three had figured out how to make an extra buck just made him laugh. Clearly they had a brain between them.

"But why are you two groups? Wouldn't that be a headache?" asked Shizune.

"Not really. The reason we split between girls and boys is so we can safely divide the fans. It's bad enough we have fangirls after us. But as girls they don't chase us."

Okami saw the look in Jiraiya's eyes and sighed.

"You'll have to pay to see us as girls, Pervy Sage."

"How much?" he leered.

"Tsunade, I will pay off one of your debts if you punch him hard enough that it takes him a full day to get back to this town," said Okami.

Her grin was wider than Jiraiya's leer. Before he could duck, she threw her whole strength into her punch.

Jiraiya landed somewhere in Sand country.

Naruto, Sasuke and Okami started laughing and high fived each other.

"Um...can I have your autographs?" asked Shizune.

They grinned.

* * *

Orochimaru had found the perfect candidate for his new body, should Tsunade be unable to break whatever that tawny haired one did to him.

The one who called himself Fenrir looked like the perfect combination of strength and looks, and he was young enough to suit his tastes.

Now he just had to find the boy.

* * *

Okami shuddered violently. The last time he had this feeling, a very unpleasant fan girl had managed to sneak into his room one night. It was only quick intervention by a very drunk Anko that had saved him. Even then, he still had nightmares.

He knew full well that the chances of him having a normal relationship with a female (or a male) was out the window. Hell, anyone who even dared to fall for him had to go through not only his mother, but the sheer _horde_ of ravenous fan girls. He really, really felt sorry for that person.

Naruto went back to training, while Sasuke decided to learn more about poisons from Tsunade.

Unknown to the Hokage, Sasuke had no intention of being an ordinary Uchiha. Years hanging out with Okami and Naruto had changed his nindo.

Sasuke wanted to be a medic nin.

Tsunade agreed to give him lessons, provided he kept his fan girls at arm's length. That was something he could readily agree to.

* * *

Shizune found a great place that sold a unique hot pot, and convinced Tsunade to invite the boys. Okami, Sasuke and Naruto were all eager for something hot to eat, since only Okami could cook anything edible.

Jiraiya followed them so he could oogle the serving girls.

Okami, trusting Shizune, decided to leave one of his pouches at the hotel. Inside was a set of special pens that he always carried just in case. He rarely had to use them, but he always kept them on hand.

"So, what's so great about this place Shizune-san?"

"I heard from a few others that their hot pot is the best in the town. I figured you guys could use a break."

Okami grinned, but checked his side pouch just in case. Inside was an odd kunai. It was inside a sterilized field that the medic ninjas worked out for him.

As they loaded up their plates, Naruto grinned.

"Itadakimasu!"

Okami took a bit of his soup, then felt his throat go numb immediately. Within minutes his throat began to swell up and he started to have trouble breathing.

Naruto realized what was wrong without being told.

"Nii-san, do you have your case?" he asked in shock.

Okami managed to shake his head no. Sasuke grabbed the strange kunai from his pouch, and before the adults could react, he stabbed Okami straight through the throat.

Tsunade stared in shock as his color started to return. Okami managed to cough through the hole in his neck.

"Naruto, top of the dresser, next to the Latin dictionary!" he gasped.

Naruto was out of there so fast no one saw him leave. Within a minute, he returned with a case. Okami opened it and grabbed one of the pens inside.

They heard an audible click, and he stabbed it into his leg. The swelling in his throat went down enough that his color returned.

"What was that about?" asked Jiraiya concerned.

"Does this hot pot have shellfish in it?" asked Okami. He had wrapped the wound up, but it wasn't a perfect wrap.

"It's their special seafood hot pot," said Shizune weakly.

Okami reached for his water and took a long drink.

"Nii-san has a severe shellfish allergy. Sasuke is allergic to roses," said Naruto.

"What was that pen thing?" asked Tsunade.

"Epi-pen. It has a medicine from the Outside to counteract the allergic reaction. In case I don't have that, I usually have to do an emergency tracheotomy. Which is why I dragged Naruto and Sasuke to that lesson..." said Okami, his voice returning to normal.

Since he had an allergic reaction to the hot pot, he ordered daifuku buns and meat rolls instead.

* * *

Tsunade met up with Orochimaru. His arms were useless, which made it impossible to create Jutsu. Her hands did not shake as they began to glow with chakra. Before she could touch the vile man, his assistant pulled him away. She threw her chakra laced hands into the ground, causing it to explode loudly.

It wasn't too hard to fend off the assistant, traitor that he was. Unfortunately he knew about her weakness to blood. The mere sight of it caused her to go weak kneed.

Before he could land a painful blow, her vision was abruptly obscured by something dark.

"Didn't your parents tell you it's bad karma to hurt girls?" asked Okami cheerfully.

Kabuto scowled at him, and decided to get rid of the interfering brat before he dealt with the medic nin. Okami moved as if he was a wolf, avoiding blows meant to kill him with some difficultly.

For each missed hit, Kabuto lost a little more of his energy. Then he realized _why_ he kept missing the brat. Okami had activated the Sharingan, and it told him which way Kabuto would move.

Orochimaru was preoccupied by the sudden arrival of Jiraiya. Between the Pervy Sage, Naruto and Okami, the traitors were having difficultly.

Without warning Kabuto went after Naruto, surprising Okami. Nearby Orochimaru managed to bring out snakes, though how he pulled it off without using his arms Okami had no idea.


	6. Chapter 6

Okami had to make a hard decision after Kabuto took out Naruto. He could join up with Shizune...or he could take out the snakes.

He made a quick calculation and grinned. He could deal with the snakes and help his brother!

He drew out the scroll he had put in his vest that morning.

"_SUMMONING JUTSU!"_

From the smoke emerged a snake that put the ones Orochimaru summoned to shame. It was one that Okami had discovered by accident in the forest of death.

The King of Serpents, the basilisk. The other snakes took one look at it, and returned back to the summons realm.

* * *

Orochimaru was not happy. Not only did the wolf boy summon a snake, he summoned one he always had difficultly getting. (He had only summoned one once, and after that they refused to come out. According to Manda, while he could summon any_ snake_ from the summons realm, he just didn't have the requirements for serpents.)

Suddenly the tables completely turned on Orochimaru and Kabuto. Okami was effectively dealing with Kabuto while Jiraiya teamed up with the basilisk to attack Orochimaru.

So, desperate, Kabuto returned to Orochimaru's side to summon the one snake that wouldn't flee from a serpent.

Manda.

The rather cross snake came out and glared at Orochimaru.

"You owe me a hundred humans!" he snarled. (Had been sleeping when they summoned him.)

"Yes yes..." said Orochimaru quickly. It wasn't like he couldn't abduct that number without blinking.

Okami hissed at the basilisk, which allowed him to ride on it's head. When Manda heard that sound, he really became angry.

"You idiots! Do you really expect me to fight against a _Speaker_?" he snarled even louder.

Seeing that this was news to them, he hissed violently. Okami blinked, surprised. He hissed back easily. Before Orochimaru or Kabuto could react, Manda spat out something that Okami retrieved. It was a large scroll. Then he went back to his den, leaving Orochimaru and Kabuto to try and survive a sixty foot fall while they were injured.

* * *

Jiraiya blinked.

"What just happened?" asked Tsunade.

Naruto finally came to, his magic repairing the damage Kabuto had dealt, and Kyuubi finally getting to work.

"Snakes and serpents respect Speakers too much to attack them without reason. Provided they don't come up with an unreasonable request, they usually do things for them," coughed Naruto.

"Speaker?" asked Jiraiya.

"Snake speech, also called Parseltoungue. I have absolutely no idea where I got it, but I'm not complaining."

Orochimaru, sensing that they wouldn't survive if they continued this battle, fled.

"So let me get this straight. You can talk to snakes, and yet you're called Okami why?" said Tsunade, very confused.

"Because I act more like a wolf than a snake? Besides, I like wolves," said Okami easily.

Shizune was eager to hear snake speech again. Much to Okami's amusement, a love for snakes seemed to run in the family. So he allowed her request.

Since Naruto _and_ Okami had won the bet against Tsunade, she reluctantly agreed to become Hokage. Okami had grinned, and sent a owl ahead to the Third. (Who then alerted Hinata and Sasuke of their impending mission to the Outside. Anko had taken a trip to England once, and helped them get ready.)

* * *

Okami took a long look at the village. After fine tuning their packs for a long term mission to 'protect' the castle from Sirius Black, he wanted to remember as many details of Konoha as he could. They had only stayed long enough to see Tsunade fulfill her word on becoming the Hokage.

(Well, that and to survive the massive party their friends threw to celebrate their first mission outside the village as chunin. Which meant they would have to get a rather massive storage scroll for all the souvenirs they would have to get.)

Okami shouldered his pack, let his mother hug him and his brother almost to the point of suffocation, then took his first step outside the Land of Fire.

It wasn't that different, but Okami could feel something shift. Like he had taken a small step in a larger world. He felt so...small. Naruto bounded up beside him. Hinata and Sasuke were walking at a more sedate pace.

Okami shook his head. Now wasn't the time to get caught up in silly notions. He took out his mask, and the others grabbed theirs. Since the only ones with animal types were Okami and Sasuke, Naruto and Hinata had blanks. Naruto had an orange fox mask that could have come from a festival, and Hinata had a white cat mask.

Okami had his ANBU issue wolf mask, while Sasuke had one designed as a crow.

Which is probably why they had been assigned code names. Okami, Kitsune, Neko and Karasu. Okami would be the leader, since he was the only one who knew what they would be facing.

They found the odd item that Dumbledore had set up for them. Remus would take them to get their supplies, since their cover would be exchange students.

* * *

Okami felt like throwing up. That key port or whatever the hell it was...was brutal. The others weren't much better. Remus was at least sympathetic.

"Rough trip?" he said.

Okami growled at him.

"First we stop at the bank, then we can explore the alley. I've already gotten your books and the other necessary items...except for your wands and familiars."

The alarms blared when Okami entered the strange stone building. Everyone started panicking except for the goblins. One broke away from the station and shut off the alarms.

Then it walked right up to him and dragged Okami back into the back room.

"You're late Mr. Potter."

"Mitarashi Okami," he replied automatically, "And what do you mean I'm late?"

The goblin looked somewhat amused.

"We expected you two years ago. Instead we received a poorly made clone that attempted to steal from your accounts," said the goblin, scowling at the memory.

"What did you do?" asked Okami, grinning. He had feeling this would be funny.

"Fined Dumbledore a thousand galleons and a warning that if he tried that again we would confiscate all his accounts," smirked the goblin. He looked very pleased when Okami laughed.

* * *

An hour later Okami left, slightly shell shocked. He was rich! And he had made an ally of the goblins when he gave them a note that the Third had written to them. It was an address so they could set up shop at the village. Griphook seemed very amused when Okami had asked if the cart went even faster.

Naruto and the others were very, very surprised when Okami handed each of them (including Remus) a medium sized bag full of gold coins. (Which prompted Remus describing the monetary system.)

Okami gave them one simple mission. Hit as many shops as they could and get whatever sparked their interest. That definitely included Remus, who helped Hinata out by reading the words out to her in Japanese. (In exchange she 'paid' for everything he planned to get. None of the shopkeepers noticed the trick until after they remembered what Remus was.)

When it came time to get the wands (which would only be used for appearances sake) Remus wanted them to go to Ollivander's. It was traditional after all.

Okami nipped that idea in the bud promptly.

"We are not here to learn magic as an occupation Remus. We are Leaf Shinobi here on a mission. Is there anyplace _other_ than this Ollivander's that we can get wands?" said Okami firmly.

"I think there is one at Knockturn, but I'm not too sure about that."

"Then lead us to Knockturn."

"It's a well known Darke Alley."

Okami gave him a look, and Remus sighed. At least he could claim that he had protested the decision. He lead them to Knockturn, and immediately they drew their kunai. The vibe they gave off was similar enough to the one that most of the long time patrons gave off.

They went through the alley unchallenged. Remus was relieved to find the shop...even if the windows were blacked out. They went in.

"Yes?"

"We need wands. We heard this place was better than the one in Diagon," said Okami calmly.

The man looked at them shrewdly, and had them stand in front of wood types. Then they picked a core and a liquid base that would stabilize it.

Okami went first, followed by Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke.

They left with four new wands, with none of the Ministry tracers.

"What next Remus?" asked Okami calmly.

"Now we wait until tomorrow when you four will board the train with me. Any of you interested in getting a familiar?"

Hinata nodded, as did Naruto. Most of his familiars were often run out or had things thrown at them.

So Okami took them to the Menagerie.

Hinata fell in love with an adorable calico kitten. She named him Niko. Naruto ended up in a staring contest with a cranky snake.

"I thought you weren't that fond of snakes, little brother," said Okami, absolutely amused.

"I'm not. But I don't intend on losing a staring contest to one."

Okami laughed. Then he hissed in a low tone that the other buyers didn't hear. The snake blinked, and then glared at him.

He grinned.

"You know I didn't intend to buy a familiar from this place..." he said as he lifted the snake from it's cage.

Naruto grinned. Then he spotted a black dog trying to crawl out of it's cage. It reminded him so much of his brother that he couldn't help but laugh.

He picked it up and it licked him in the face.

"Everyone get their familiar?" asked Okami.

Hinata put her kitten on the counter with Okami's snake, Naruto's dog, and Sasuke's raven. It all came out to a surprising thirteen galleons.

Remus looked at their purchases amused, and told them with a grin, "You know they only allow cats, owls, rats or toads as acceptable pets."

"And your point is?" said Sasuke.

"Someone will complain?"

"Like they won't when they realize that we don't actually _need_ our wands? Just let me deal with the whiners," said Okami.

Remus snickered.

"Well since you all have a pet, would you like to see the Owl Emporium?"

"Why?" asked Sasuke.

"For fun of course."

"I wouldn't mind," said Okami.

As soon as they came within hearing distance of the emporium, they all heard a shriek that put them on edge. A white blur attacked one of the employees and refused to stop.

Okami did something that set his team's teeth on edge. Naruto hated it when he did it too.

He whistled sharply.

The white blur stopped it's attack, and focused it's attention on him instead. But before it could get close enough to attack, he vanished and grabbed it's talons firmly. The owl flapped at him, very angrily. He ignored the beats of the wings.

"That owl is a menace!" the poor man screamed. The owner looked haggard as well.

"What did you do to piss it off?" asked Okami calmly.

"That blasted bird is always a pain during breeding season!" said the owner.

"Did it occur to you that she might not want to breed?" said Sasuke.

"How much?" asked Okami.

"You can have that wretched thing!" said the owner, who had had enough.

* * *

Okami finally let go of the owl's talons. The windows and door was closed. The owl flew to the dresser and glared at him.

"Look, you have three options," said Okami.

The owl continued to glare, but he could tell it was listening.

"One, you stick with me until we get to the Elemental countries and then we part ways."

The owl had stopped glaring and was really listening to his options.

"Two, you decide to join me as my ninja partner."

"And three. I open the window at Hogwarts and you can go your own way without returning."

The owl gave him a look. Her new owner was giving her a choice. That alone made him interesting. She would do a wait and see with him. He looked smarter than most of his kind.

"So can I open the door without you trying to escape?" he asked.

She hooted. He carefully opened the door, but didn't react when she did an odd walk onto his shoulder.

Naruto was grinning.

"You give her the infamous three options deal?"

"Yup."

Okami was well known in the village for giving people three options. Each of them was reasonable, calculated, and always benefited him in some way. For some strange reason, people mostly chose option two, and he had no idea why.

Naruto's grin widened.

"Can you help me name my new dog?"

"Sure."

* * *

Okami looked over the dog with a critical eye. The poor thing was underweight, had fleas, unkempt hair and appeared to have a limp. But other than that, it was healthy enough.

"First things first. Get Sasuke and tell him to bring the tub," said Okami.

Naruto's evil grin widened.

The dog seemed to have an idea what was coming, because it tried to make a break for it. Okami grabbed the collar Naruto bought for it. It was stronger than he had thought. Too bad he was a trained ninja who could break boulders with a punch.

Sasuke came in with an evil grin. In his arms was a large tub. Naruto had shampoo and conditioner. Hinata followed them with a comb and some scissors.

Between the four of them, they managed to wash it thoroughly. Once it realized it wasn't going to escape, it just whined while they washed it.

It came out of the tub, and got back at them by shaking all the water onto them. Even their ninja reflexes didn't spare them from the assault.

Hinata got out the scissors. With sharp, precise cuts she removed the worst of the tangles. Then they went at his coat with the special comb.

They were all amazed at the change. Where a scraggly mutt had been, a proud and majestic hound stood. It looked like a bird hound, or something that would sit an English lord's feet during the evening.

Too bad the image was ruined by the girly looking bow Hinata had tied to it's neck. (Payback for the water it threw on them.)

"So what should we name this thing?" asked Naruto.

Okami looked at the hound, and a memory hit him.

"Padfoot."

Naruto gave him a look.

"What? He's got pads on his feet doesn't he?"

He grinned. Naruto got up and grabbed a kunai from his pouch.

"I hereby dub thee Sir Padfoot!"

"Naruto, have you been reading those stories about Camelot again?" asked Okami.

"Maybe..." said Naruto, not looking him in they eye.

"That stuff will rot your brain faster than the ramen will," said Okami.

Sasuke and Hinata snickered. It was well known Naruto was a total ramen addict.

"Ramen is the food of the gods!" declared Naruto. And was promptly attacked with one of his pillows. Sasuke and Hinata caught on to the idea when Naruto threw it back at Okami, only to hit Sasuke. It wasn't long before an all out pillow fight commenced.

The owl stayed out of the fray. Though she still got nailed occasionally.

* * *

Remus stared in complete shock before he burst out laughing. Every ninja that came down had feathers in their hair. Even the dog had some in it's collar.

"What happened?" he asked when he could breath again. (They didn't know he had taken a picture to send to Anko later.)

"Okami started it!" whined Naruto. (Had the most feathers.)

"Oi! You're the one who started it when you missed me!" said Okami with a smirk. (Had the least amount of feathers in his hair.)

"What I want to know is why your dog decided to get involved," said Sasuke. (Had been hit repeatedly by the newly christened Padfoot.)

Remus laughed again, then ordered breakfast. (Most of which he ate. The amount of grease in the food didn't appeal to the ninjas.)

* * *

Once they finished the breakfast, they packed in record time and followed Remus to the station. He hailed a cab and they ran along the roofs to the station itself. All their luggage was in their personal storage scrolls. They had so much stuff that they couldn't close their trunks...even after they had divided their purchases.

They raised an eyebrow at the pillar.

"They seriously expect a weak genjutsu like that to fool civilians?" asked Okami. His voice was slightly muffled by the mask.

Remus raised an eyebrow at them. Last night they hadn't bothered with the masks. But once they exited the pub they had all placed their masks on.

"It has worked for centuries. But I think it's mostly because of the muggle repelling charm that they placed alongside of the illusion. Let's get on and wait for the train to start."

It turned out that they were five hours early. While most of them hated mornings, they were all early risers.

So Okami and Naruto slept in while Sasuke and Hinata read from a medical scroll. They compared notes and argued softly over which technique would work best.

When the students started to arrive, Okami and Naruto woke up. They spent the next four hours helping Hinata with her English. She was a quick learner, but she still needed help.

Finally, Okami turned to Remus.

"What is the housing situation like?"

"There are four primary houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. They divide students based on personality and intelligence. Gryffindors promote bravery and courage, also brashness. Hufflepuff treasure loyalty and team effort. Ravenclaws seek knowledge and wisdom. Slytherins look for cunning and guile."

Okami nodded, then thought over their assignment.

"This mission will go better if we split up. Naruto, you take Gryffindor. Sasuke, Ravenclaw. Hinata you take Hufflepuff."

"You get Slytherin, right?" said Sasuke. Okami nodded.

Remus watched this all with amusement. It almost sounded like they were planning an invasion... then his mind caught up to what Dumbledore had planned to do to Harry.

Perhaps an invasion wouldn't be that bad.


	7. Chapter 7

Ron was miffed. Dumbledore had promised him that he would be the best friend of the boy-who-lived. Instead the kid he assumed was the boy-who-lived was actually a clone. One that had broken apart when it couldn't open the Chamber. Ginny almost died!

(The basilisk had emerged from its nest and destroyed the diary when it realized a student was in danger. Then it went missing. It hadn't been fooled by Tom at all, so the brat had gone and found a spell that would petrify the students through reflection. Myrtle had been killed by the killing curse.)

Beside him was the only girl he couldn't understand... Hermione Granger.

She was annoyed because Dumbledore had told her in no uncertain terms that if she didn't befriend the boy-who-lived, he would throw her out of Hogwarts. (She had decided if the boy didn't come she would try for Beauxbatons, a school in France. It was a mostly female school.)

She was the first to spot the new teacher and the exchange students. So she ditched Ron to great them.

The girl had the most interesting mask she had ever seen. The two darker haired boys could have been cousins, but the blond acted like they were brothers. She couldn't see their faces because all of them were wearing masks.

"Hello. Mind if I sit here?"

"Why not. I'm sure Hinata could use a girl to talk to," said the boy with what appeared to be a wolf mask.

Once her role had been established, Okami turned to his fellow conspirators with a smirk.

"Okay, so what are we going to hit Gryffindor with?"

"We can kidnap all the cats and set them loose," suggested the fox one.

"Touch my cat and I will strangle you," said Hermione annoyed.

"No cats then. They hate me anyway," shrugged the blond fox. They didn't seem at all worried about her threat.

"Yeah, remember Tiger? That little hell cat seemed to think you were his scratching post."

"Until you had the sense to threaten it with Bob and those fireworks," said the fox, who sounded like it was smirking. The wolf grinned. At least she think it did.

"Bob?" she asked.

"A ninety foot snake with poison in his fangs. He really has issues with cats," shrugged the wolf.

"You know a ninety foot snake?" she asked, afraid he would answer.

"Oh please. Snakes in _that_ forest grow to a hundred fifty at least by the time they turn ten years old."

Hermione gave them all an incredulous look.

"So you're a Gryffindor right? Can you give us a lay of the alliances in that house?" asked the wolf.

"I'm the wrong person to ask that," she said crisply, "People have been saying for years that the hat put me in the wrong house."

The wolf boy nodded.

"Well then who should we watch out for and if necessary take out in some rather creative fashion?" asked the crow.

Hermione didn't think twice as she outlined the more dangerous characters and unpleasant people in the houses.

"Ronald Weasly. Youngest son of Molly Weasly and Chess master. Is extremely loud and brash with a tact level of zero at best. While his family isn't from one of the richest lines, it is still from an influential Light oriented side."

"Luna Lovegood. Only child of Xenophilius Lovegood, editor of the Quibbler. She has a penchant for being rather...eccentric. Rumor has it she's a true Seer."

"Draco Malfoy. Son of Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black. People have been saying for years that he would join he-who-must-not-be-named on the off chance that the man comes back. Aside from the time he called me a Mudblood because I called attention to the fact that he had to buy his way onto the Slytherin Quidditch team, he is somewhat civil to muggleborn and half bloods."

"Susan Bones. Niece of the current head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and is relatively close to her aunt."

"Neville Longbottom. People seem to have gotten it into their heads that Neville is the true boy-who-lived, since the infamous Harry Potter never showed up when he was eleven. His only real specialty is in Herbology."

"Marcus Flint. Confirmed ass, he has a tendency to harass and bully anyone who isn't a pure-blood. He is also the captain of the Slytherin team."

The four nodded in appreciation of her intel.

"Well that narrows some of our questions a bit. So do you have any for us?"

Hermione looked right at them and said "Why are you wearing masks on the train?"

Wolf-boy laughed.

"Clearly you've never had fanboys. Besides, what better way to add to the mystery of us than to wear them?"

"And what possessed you to transfer to this particular school of magic?"

"Officially we are here to expand relations between the two schools. Unofficially... The annoying old goat hired us to catch Sirius Black if possible."

"And how old are you?"

"Thirteen. Well, Crow is almost fourteen."

"Names?"

"Okami," said wolf boy.

"Naruto!" said the cheerful fox boy.

"H-H-Hinata," said the rather silent female.

"Sasuke," said the crow.

"Hermione."

Introductions over, they discussed their families. Hermione was surprised to find out that Okami and Naruto were brothers, and that Sasuke was Okami's cousin on his father's side.

It was around the time that they were starting to get hungry that the door opened wide to reveal a gangly red head with a rather brash attitude.

"So this is where you disappeared to. Figures you would try to spread your nonsense to the foreigners," sneered Ron.

Okami didn't like him. He stood up, walked to the red head and did the one thing his team would expect.

He gave the boy a bloody nose.

"I don't care who you are or what your family is like. But if you insult my friends or family, you will have your arse kicked. Am I clear?" said Okami coldly.

Ron was sweating. Something about the atmosphere dropped several degrees in a manner of seconds, and he backed up. Okami walked closer, angry.

The brash Gryffindor all but fled the car.

Not more than fifteen minutes later, the door opened again. This time it was a blond that could rival an Uchiha when it came to careful indifference.

Okami decided to head off the inevitable questions.

"Name, house and year."

The boy, clearly taken aback, answered without question. Okami had that effect sometimes.

"Draco Malfoy, Slytherin 3rd year."

"So are the rumors about you being a git true, or was that all hype?" asked Sasuke.

Draco huffed as he said "You'll come to learn that in Hogwarts, one has to maintain a certain facade or you will be hounded all bloody year."

"Good to know. Okami Mitarashi. The blond is Naruto Uzamaki. The rather cool one in next to the window is Sasuke Uchiha and the shy girl next to Hermione is Hinata Hyuuga."

"...Mind if I join you?"

"Go right ahead...provided you aren't like that red haired moron who came in here looking to start something he couldn't back up."

"The tactless Weasel?"

Draco sat next to Sasuke.

"Since Hermione here has given us a rather short rundown on people in Hogwarts, can you give us the alliances and which people to watch out for?"

Draco sat up a bit and gave them a simple version of the Light/Dark debate.

"Slytherin house mostly has Dark or Neutral oriented families, and no too few of the people there would happily support the Dark Lord if he returned. Hufflepuff has the most Neutral clans, though they usually go into the Auror department shortly after graduating. Gryffindor is full of Light oriented families...though there are a few borderline dark. Ravenclaw is the mixed house, since it only accepts those with intelligence. They pride themselves on their knowledge rather than their magic."

"As for who to watch out for... Snape is highly prejudiced against all the other houses, particularly Gryffindor. My father has hinted towards some rather cruel hazing when he was in school by the Marauders who were lead by James Potter. McGonagall is strict, but fair. Crossing her leads to a detention. Filch hates all students, particularly the Weasly twins. Rumor has it that he's a squib."

Draco then gave a rough rundown on which family was on the Light and Dark side debate. Particularly in the Slytherin house.

Okami listened intently, and nodded when he was done.

"Concise, well thought out and to the point. I'm sure we'll get along fine Draco."

Draco was surprised by the praise.

Then Naruto asked something that had been worrying him.

"How bad are these Weasly Twins?"

Draco and Hermione winced.

"Fred and George Weasly...their known nicknames among the students are the terror twins, and they are well known pranksters. Crossing them puts you on their list, which guarantees a public humiliation at the least. While their family is on the Light side of the whole good/bad debate, they are more neutral than anything," said Draco.

The minute he said pranksters, Sasuke groaned in dismay.

"Oh hell no. I bet you ten galleons that they will team up with Naruto and Okami," said Sasuke.

Draco looked at the crow masked boy in disbelief.

"What makes you say that?"

Sasuke hooked a thumb at the fox and wolf masked boys.

"These two...are well known in our hometown for pranking people. In fact if I remember right that's how Okami ended up being adopted by that psycho!"

Hermione gave Okami a look of surprise.

"Adopted?"

Okami shrugged. He didn't care that he was adopted.

"For as long as I can remember, I had lived in an orphanage until my mother adopted me. We had pranked her by turning all her instruments bright neon pink. She _hates_ pink. According to the orphanage owners, some fat idiot left me there believing he would be paid to get rid of an unwanted child," Okami snorted at this point "He was kicked out of the village and told if he ever returned he would be killed on sight."

Draco and Hermione looked at each other, then at Okami. He had said that fact a little too easily for their comfort.

So they drifted off to safer topics, namely the supposed history of the boy-who-lived.

Okami had to hide his laughter when he learned that everyone believed a green mage (as this Neville character clearly was) was a great Savior of the Light.

"Did it ever occur to the Magical Community that maybe they shouldn't pin their hopes on a child?"

Draco was clearly taken aback by such a thought. Hermione looked a bit annoyed with it.

"Blame Dumbledore. He insists on people dancing to his tune alone."

Okami gave Hermione a knowing look. (She couldn't see it, but she could sense it all the same.)

"Oh?"

Finally, the order which the old man had given (which rankled her quite a bit) bubbled to the surface.

"That old man is such a manipulative old goat! He expects everyone to simply drop what they are doing and fulfill his every order! He even has the audacity to believe that he can order someone to befriend others simply by telling them to!"

Draco looked at Hermione in shock.

"Who did he tell you to befriend?" asked Naruto.

"He seems to think Harry Potter is coming to Hogwarts, and told me if I don't befriend him, then he will expel me even though my grades are at the top of the class!" said Hermione in a huff.

Draco couldn't help the incredulous laughter.

"Care to enlighten the rest of us?"

"Hermione...she has absolutely no friends aside from Neville and Luna Lovegood. No offense, but how does he expect _you_ to befriend someone like Harry Potter when you often boss those two around?"

Hermione only glared at him. Inwardly Okami was grinning. The girl had inadvertently revealed the plan to the one she was supposed to get close to. Which meant they were one step ahead of Dumbledore already.

What a perfect way to start the mission.

Suddenly the train stopped, and the glass began to fog up.

"What the hell?" said Sasuke.

"This is normal. We can't possibly be there yet..." said Hermione.

A sudden chill enveloped all of them. Okami scowled.

"Did Dumbledore hire more guards or something?"

Remus blanched.

"I overheard rumors Fudge posted...them...but I didn't think it was true!"

They all looked at him in confusion.

"Explanations please?" asked Sasuke.

"Dementors..." whispered Remus.

Naruto's dog whimpered, and went closer to his owner.

(Unknown to Sirius, the ninja had already been told that Naruto had inadvertently bought the escaped convict. They just didn't care, because the chances of him able to cause any real trouble dropped to zero after being bought by Naruto of all people.)

Naruto lay a calming hand on the hound, but remained wary. When the door opened, everyone in the compartment felt some bad memories come up to the surface.

* * *

(Okami)

"_YOU LITTLE FREAK! HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO MY SON! I WILL NOT HAVE YOU IN THIS HOUSE A MOMENT MORE!"_

_The walrus shaped man grabbed him roughly, and dragged him onto a plane without a word. Before he could see where they were going, the man beat him so hard that he blacked out from the pain._

Okami pushed that long lost memory away, and glared at the creature. While finding a missing piece of his past was interesting, he didn't like the fact that this...thing had done it so ruthlessly.

* * *

(Naruto)

"_DEMON SPAWN!"_

"_Stay away from my children, you demon!"_

"_Monster! Leave us alone!"_

Naruto could feel tears welling up. He didn't like remembering the days before Okami had put a stop to the names. Ever since his brother showed up in his life, he had known what it was like to have someone who cared about him. He gripped his kunai pouch a little tighter. This creature had to die for making him remember _that_.

* * *

(Sasuke)

_Okami tackled him before he could leave the academy for the day. Someone henged to look like Itachi was killing his clan._

_Itachi knew who it was, but said nothing. Okami, his cousin, had done his best to protect him from the sight of the massacre that had occurred that day._

Sasuke growled, reaching for his shuriken pouch. He didn't like remembering the day that everything had changed. The day that Itachi had supposedly killed off the clan.

* * *

(Hinata)

_Her father looked at her with thinly veiled disgust. He didn't believe she was worthy to lead the clan. She was too weak. Even her sister was stronger than her._

_Her father beat that message home by giving her several broken bones under the guise of 'training'._

_Her cousin, Neji, watched on in anger. Though whether it was because of her weakness or her father's treatment she had no idea._

Hinata tried to suppress her growl of anger. How dare this thing remind her of something she desperately tried to forget?

She would never forget when Okami had walked up to her and asked if she would join his team on their first mission outside Fire Country. When she had asked why he didn't approach Neji, he had smiled warmly and told her that he believed she would be more useful.

His words bolstered her courage enough to agree. Someone in the village didn't think she was a weakling! Someone actually believed she could be a proper kunoichi!

_(In case you haven't guessed this already, with Okami around, Hinata is three times less shy than normal. Something about the wolf boy seemed to bolster even her timid self to acts of courage.)_

In what seemed like a blink of an eye, four razor sharp kunai laced with chakra impaled the dementor that had entered the compartment.

The howl that the thing would let off would give all the first through second years nightmares that only a trained psychologist could get rid of properly.

"That...was a total pain in the ass," said Okami flatly.

* * *

The four shinobi all rode on the same boat, since apparently there was a rule that stated transfers and first years had to ride cold boats, even when the weather was almost below freezing.

"I'm already hating this place," said Sasuke, annoyed.

Okami noted Hinata and Naruto shivering, and waved his hand in a random half jutsu seal. At least they thought it was random until they stopped shivering.

"Remind me to thank Haku for showing me how to perform jutsu with only one hand..." said Okami.


	8. Chapter 8

Okami was not very happy that within five minutes of entering the castle they had been singled out. Dumbledore clearly didn't understand the simple concept of _blending in_.

(Then again, with his taste in appropriate colors, Okami shouldn't have felt surprised. The only thing to happen when Okami first saw the old man was the most evil prank he had ever conceived.)

"I would like to introduce some exchange students from a small Academy in Japan. Everyone, please welcome..."

One by one each shinobi stood up and did a small introduction.

"Okami Mitarashi-Uchiha," said Okami with a slight bow. His rather deep tenor voice had some of the girls eying him with lust.

"Naruto Uzamaki-Mitarashi! Believe it!" said the blonde with a cheerful voice. Two twins in the red and gold table zoomed in on him in seconds.

"Sasuke Uchiha," said Sasuke in a rather calm soprano. (Several girls were looking at him with a rather unhealthy interest, as if debating where to kidnap him. Sasuke, through years of dealing with this, had quickly noted that problem.)

"Hinata Hyuuga..." said the lone female shyly. (Several crushes were instantly created by the shy sound of her voice.)

In alphabetical order, each of them went under the hat. Much to the disbelief of the school, each of the exchange students landed in a separate house!

Once the announcements were over and everyone was more or less fed (Naruto had an impromptu eating contest with a red head named Ron Weasly) the shinobi followed their new housemates to their dorms.

* * *

Naruto was the hero of the hour in Ron's mind. Why? Because he was the first and only person who had dared to challenge him to an eating contest (which the foreigner won hands down. Naruto was one of the rare people who could out-eat an Akamichi, particularly when it came to ramen.)

"So Naruto, what's your school like?"

"Loads of fun! Of course I've already graduated, otherwise they wouldn't let us leave home!" said Naruto proudly.

Hermione zoned on him immediately when he said that.

"What do you mean you already graduated?"

"Well those who are still in the academy aren't allowed to leave our home unless a family member takes us. Even then they aren't allowed to skip lessons. It's for their protection, because we have some fierce rivalries with other schools that can kill us if we leave before we are ready," said Naruto.

(Okami had schooled his team in what they should and shouldn't say about the village. All he had to do to make his lesson stick was to tell Naruto that he would be playing the biggest prank the school had likely seen in years.)

Once Naruto was settled (they had only worn the masks up to the point where they were separated from the first years. No point in hiding what they looked like during the sorting) he joined in an impromptu pillow fight with the other boys in his dorm.

He had a feeling tomorrow was going to be highly productive for the loudest prankster in Konoha.

* * *

Hinata settled in with some difficulty. Fortunately the house she ended up in was a rather calm house compared to the others. And she fit it so perfectly that it took little time to get used to the camaraderie. Fortunately they were willing to wait before they asked questions about her school.

* * *

Sasuke had been backed into a corner. Ravenclaws were nothing if not nosy. In less than ten minutes of entering the dorm, they had discovered that he was a journeyman mage and that Okami was his cousin.

On the plus side, they also knew when to back off on the questions. He didn't fool himself into thinking that they wouldn't come back with a vengeance.

* * *

Okami, in less than an hour of entering the Slytherin dorm, had established himself as the dominant male of the entire house. He had done this by taking down the Quidditch captain, Marcus Flint, who had the not-so-bright idea of trying to put the foreign kid in his place.

Okami had simply walked up, kneed the idiot in the groin hard enough that it would take him months to recover, if ever, and said in a no-nonsense tone...

"If you plan to challenge me, you had best bring your A-game. Half-hearted attempts to attack me will result in a painful retribution."

And with that, Okami had placed his claim as someone who could give Snape a run for his money in establishing order without any effort.

Draco, who had long since learned the fine art of covering one's ass in a power struggle between dominants, immediately decided to back the foreigner up. He saw the potential the boy had as a powerful wizard, even if Flint hadn't.

Okami, by dint of being an alpha male (which took the other boys three seconds to figure out after taking out Flint with disturbing ease) got the best bed in the dormitory. Draco got the other.

* * *

Naruto was the first person in Gryffindor to wake up. It was because of this fact that he managed to run into the Weasly twins...who were setting up a wicked prank for Filch.

Naruto, due to being a natural prankster, saw what they were doing and walked up with an evil smirk on his face.

"Need any help, Weasly-tachi?"

It took them exactly four seconds to realize _who_ had said it, and five more to realize _what_ he had said.

Unholy smirks of evil appeared on the twin's faces.

"Depends on what you can do..." said Fred.

"I can walk on walls. And no one can compete with my ability to run like hell."

Okami, all the way in the Slytherin dorms, had a premonition of absolute chaos and destruction. He suspected his brother as the cause. He smirked with an unholy glint of evil.

What sort of prankster would he be if he didn't aid his brother in causing chaos of a nightmarish scale?

* * *

The Slytherin dorms were greeted with the girlish screams of Marcus Flint and several of those who would eventually become death eaters when Voldemort returned. Okami wasn't an idiot. He knew an enemy in training better than most. (He blamed his mother for that.)

Draco Malfoy raised an eyebrow at his new dorm mate, but said nothing.

"I thought Slytherins were used to snakes," said Okami from his perch next to the only exit out of the dorms.

A boy named Travis MacCloud ran up the stairs in horror.

"There are talking snakes down there! In our rooms!" he yelled in horror.

"Of course they talk. What summon snake doesn't?" muttered Okami in amusement. Alas, he said that in Japanese.

"Your work?" asked Draco dryly.

"Think they've had enough?"

Draco merely raised an eyebrow in amusement.

And was treated to Okami's infamous whistle that was known to cause headaches in close range.

He whistled in a piercing note, and seven large snake of varying poisonous colors slithered up to him.

"Good work. Now head back to the Forest and await my instructions."

The snakes hissed in confirmation, and vanished in a poof of smoke.

Flint stalked up to the top of the stairs and glared at him. To Okami, it was barely a glower of annoyance at best.

"Why did you set talking snakes on your own house?"

"Why were you so upset that they could talk?" asked Okami in return.

(Draco reluctantly admitted the boy did have a point.)

Snape, who had heard the entire dorm scream bloody murder, walked up to the boy with a glare. Okami had to admit, it was a much more impressive one than Flint's.

"Next time you intend to prank the dorm, do it at a decent hour."

"But if I had set it any later, there wasn't a guarantee that I would get the entire dorm Professor," said Okami with a smirk.

"Indeed. Then next time do it when I haven't been patrolling all night," Snape countered.

"Give me a rough schedule and I'll help Naruto prank the lion house during the days McGonagall is on duty."

"Done."

Draco had watched this all with interest. Clearly Okami was a force to be reckoned with, if Snape was willing to assist the boy. Yet another reason to remain on his good side.

So Draco escorted the new Leader of the Snake house (he had graciously stepped down the moment he saw how Okami took down Flint) to the Great Hall.

And blinked.

It appeared that the Weasly twins had struck again, though he had to admit, this was one of their most original tricks he had seen.

Okami took one look at the chaos that would start the second the hall was mostly filled and smirked.

"Looks like my brother has decided to join forces with the infamous twins."

"Which one is your brother? The dark and gloomy Ravenclaw?"

"Loud mouth blonde Gryffindor. The Ravenclaw is actually my cousin."

"Ah," said Draco tactfully. He filed that information in the appropriate places and moved on.

Draco noted that Okami set up a protective ward around himself, and did the same. Clearly Okami had inside information, and it was prudent to follow his lead.

This proved to be true when not ten minutes after the students sat down to eat their breakfast and get their schedules, it rained a sticky substance...followed by what appeared to be glitter and feathers.

Out of all the students, only Okami, Hinata, Sasuke, Naruto, the twins and Draco were unaffected.

It was soon discovered that the 'glitter' was not in fact glitter at all.

It was a mild itching powder that would take a good thirty minutes to wear off. No form of soap and water would get rid of the stuff, and even spells had no effect on it.

* * *

Okami had to admit, Ancient Runes wasn't as boring as he feared. He sat next to Hermione the entire time, though he wondered what the odd glitter under her shirt was. Something on a fine chain had gotten dislodged during her intense scratch fest from the itching powder.

Unlike the rest of the class, he could easily read what the teacher had written, so when called on it, repeated it exactly.

The woman's eyes widened in surprise when she asked where he had learned it.

"Ma'am, I have a hobby of learning dead languages. I learned Greek when I was seven."

Okami didn't add that dead languages were excellent for use as secret codes. It was to that end Okami found the most useful languages and taught his team.

"Ten points to Slytherin then. Now for this term we will be learning Greek mythology and translating the ancient myths. The better you translate, the more points you will earn for your house. Anyone who can perfectly translate the runes will earn a thirty point bonus for their house."

Okami looked at the myth she wanted them to do, and tried not to laugh.

It was Oedipus Rex.

Once, when he had a three day break from missions (his mother had the flu for nearly a week before Okami decided to take over for her) he had found a copy of the myth and translated it.

He had found the main point rather interesting.

Okami couldn't wait for Care of Magical Creatures. If anything, this would be cakewalk after dealing with the Four-tailed wolf.

He noticed his brother was nearby and grinned.

"So how was Divination?"

"IT SUCKED! I nearly suffocated in that room! She really needs to lay off the incense!" whined Naruto.

"I hear she doesn't really have the Eye, but she comes from a family of people who used to have it."

"Next time I have to go in there, I'm bringing nose plugs."

They rounded over the hill, and saw the paddock. Hagrid was waiting for the class there.

"So any clue what he's going to show us?" asked Okami.

"I would say something he considers harmless, but could easily cause serious injury," said Draco.

Draco was right. Standing in the paddock was a group of winged creatures with nasty looking talons. They looked like the unholy mating of an eagle and a lion.

"Hippogryffs!" said Hagrid proudly, "Now everyone open their books to page thirty and we'll get started!"

"How are we supposed to do that?" said Ron loudly.

Naruto and Okami looked at the boy in disbelief.

"You couldn't get it open?" they said in unison, displaying the books tamely lying open for them.

Ron and several others looked at them in shock.

"How did you...?" said Draco in disbelief.

"You just have to show them who's boss," shrugged Okami.

_'That and let off a little killing intent...'_ he thought to himself.

"I thought it was neat, so I petted it. It went tame when I stroked the spine," said Naruto with his usual grin.

(Naruto thought the books reminded him of Kyuubi. You just have to know how to scratch the right way in order to get his back leg going nuts.)

Soon the rest of the class carefully opened their books. Some, like Draco, had bound them using their belts.

"You guys seriously need to chill. They aren't _that_ scary," said Okami.

Hagrid looked at Naruto and Okami with approval. Clearly they were boys after his own heart.

"Right. See the thing about Hippogryffs is that they're real proud creatures. You do _not_ want to insult one, because it may well be the last thing you do. When greeting a Hippogryff you have to look them in the eyes and bow. If they bow back, that means you can approach them," said Hagrid.

Several of the class had an inkling as to what he was going to ask next. Okami and Naruto were surprised to find that the only people still anywhere _near_ the creatures was them.

For civilians, they could move fast when properly motivated.

Okami shrugged, and went up to a gray one while Naruto went to a tawny feathered one. The two looked the Hippogryffs right in the eye and gave a formal Japanese bow. They didn't show a hint of fear towards the beasts.

Impressed, the hippogryffs bowed back. Soon they were crooning under the hands of Okami and Naruto.

Okami grinned at his shocked classmates.

"These guys are nothing compared to my mother when she's denied Dango..."

Naruto snickered. Anko was _terrifying_ when the stand she liked ran out. Even Kyuubi didn't scare him as much as that.

Soon, several of the students carefully went up to the beasts. Several bowed and they relaxed slightly.

Okami noted that the so called boy-who-lived was having great trouble in getting his beast to bow back. He attributed that to nervousness.

Okami walked up to Neville and told him calmly "Animals can sense fear. And this fellow doesn't look like he will harm you if you don't provoke him."

"I'm n-n-not u-u-used to a-a-animals," stuttered Neville.

Okami bowed to the Hippogryff, who bowed back. Then he gently lead the animal to Neville, and placed his hand on the creature's beak.

Soon Neville had it purring, or close enough to it. Okami grinned outright.

The boy reminded him so much of Hinata it was funny.

"Just remember this. As long as you treat animals and people with respect, there is rarely any reason to fear them."

Ron walked up behind them sneering.

"How does a slimy snake know so much about respect?"

Okami did his best impression of his mother. Shivers went down the spines of anyone who was near him, and they all backed away just a tiny bit.

Everyone except Ron and Naruto that is.

"Do you know what Okami means in Japanese, boya?"

Ron looked down at Okami.

"Okami is Japanese...for wolf," he said, smirking.

All of a sudden, Ron was on the ground, pinned by Okami's massive paw. Okami sneered at him through his muzzle and morphed his voice into a human.

"_And I am one wolf you do not want to tick off,"_ sneered Okami.

He allowed Ron to get up, and while the boy ran for the fence of the paddock, Okami shifted back with a smirk.

Draco stared at Okami in disbelief.

"You're an animagus?"

"So? I'm Japanese. We learn how to become animagi by the time we turn ten. And unlike you Brits, we don't bother registering animal forms."

Once Ron was far from the lesson, it finished in a relatively calm manner. Okami and Naruto didn't doubt that if the boy had stayed, he would have insulted one of the creatures and endangered the rest of the class.

* * *

The entire school was abuzz with what Okami had done to Ron. While he hadn't actually _hurt_ the boy, they were still impressed with how he got Ron to back off.

At the very least, everyone in their year gave him looks of respect. And it cut down on the snake insults in the halls from the Gryffindors.

"I don't see why people seem to think that I find the word snake so offensive," complained Okami.

"They think if they slur our house, it will anger us," shrugged Draco.

"Back home if you wanted to insult someone, you would call them a rat or something. No one would ever _dare_ insult snakes, because my mother would take offense."

"Why would they be afraid of your mother?"

"Well for one thing, she can summon massive snakes to eat people, and for another she's the Deputy Director of the T and I corps."

"T and I?"

Okami gave the boy a sidelong look of amusement.

"Torture and Interrogation."

Draco stopped dead cold in the hallway, and gave Okami his impression of a fish.

"You're joking, right?"

Okami smirked.

"You really don't want to know what I can do with a simple pair of sewing needles."

Draco wisely dropped the subject, and helped Okami go into his next class.


	9. Chapter 9

"So explain why you want me riding a stick in midair?" said Okami.

"Simple really. Our beater decided to quit, and you were the first option the rest of the team chose to replace him," said Draco.

"And what exactly does a beater do?"

"Sends mini cannonballs at the other team, while keeping those cannonballs from hitting his own. The only real rule about beaters is that you aren't allowed to kill the other team, only maim," said Sasuke from his perch.

Sasuke had requested a break from his infiltration of the Ravenclaw dorm. Apparently the fangirls there were smarter than his usual breed... the only thing that they _wouldn't_ do to follow him was go into a rival house without permission.

Which is why he chose Slytherin. No one would question him visiting his cousin.

"So I get to unleash untold violence so long as I don't kill or permanently injure anyone?" said Okami, becoming interested.

Sasuke looked at his cousin with amusement. Anko was definitely rubbing off on her son.

"That's the gist of it. Of course you have to protect your team too," said Draco...he was definitely creeped out by the look in Okami's eyes.

"Meh...sounds like that time in Wave, remember?"

"You mean with Anko-sensei completely annihilated all those lame ass mercenaries? And we had to deal with that idiot drunk?"

"Yeah, but this doesn't sound nearly as fun. Still, we are going to be stuck here for the year..."

Okami turned to Draco, glad that he couldn't understand Japanese at all.

"Why not. Let's see if riding a stick is worth all this hassle."

Draco lead them to the Quidditch stands, with most of the Slytherin team coming with him. Once Draco handed him the broom, Okami took off.

Much to the disbelief of the team (and amusement of Sasuke who had gone with them) Okami rode it like a surfboard.

(Once, Anko had taken them all to the beach on their rare paid vacation. It was their reward for bringing Zabusa and Haku into the village while continuing with the mission. Much to the amusement of the team, Okami was a natural surfer while Naruto just plain sucked at it. His only saving grace was that he could stay on the board with his chakra.)

Flint smirked when he released the bludgers. Time to see if Okami could handle the action.

To the horror of the team, Okami proceeded to punch the living daylights out of the bludgers, and completely destroyed one of the higher stands decked in Slytherin green. It would have to be completely rebuilt before the next game.

Okami grabbed the bludgers with both hands, and landed easily.

"Sheesh...these things are completely weak. My mother's punch is worse than these things."

Seeing their open mouthed expressions, Sasuke snorted.

"Itoko, you went overboard again."

"Please. Europe is nothing compared to the Elemental Countries. That dumbass Kankuro could have put up more of a challenge."

"Oi, Draco. Exactly how much damage do these bludgers usually inflict?" asked Sasuke.

"Broken bones...mostly."

Sasuke looked at Okami with amusement.

"You weren't kidding. An Academy cadet could cause more damage."

After that Okami had Remus get him a broom (he paid for it of course).

* * *

Naruto grinned when he saw his brother flying. Unlike the others, Okami refused to ride his broom normally. It was something of an inside joke to the other Quidditch teams.

Of course people couldn't help but wonder how someone destroyed one of of the higher towers at the pitch. People played it down to a prank from someone who had enough of Slytherin.

Only the Slytherin team knew what really happened to that stand. And Okami had assured them that he had much worse things he could do if they talked.

Okami was eager to play this game. Much to his disappointment the game wasn't as hard as the team made it out to be. Alas, it was the only acceptable replacement for actual exercise at the school.

(Remus, when he realized what would happen having a four man team of stir crazy ninja loose in the school had shown them an unused corridor that had a room where they could train in peace. Every morning, three hours before breakfast, the four would try to kill each other in mock spars without having to worry about the teachers stopping them.)

Once the whistle was blown, Okami practically leaped into the air. As soon as he was up properly, he grinned. He could hear the crowd gasp in disbelief when he starting playing while surfing on his new broom.

He could also hear McGonagall chastise him over the loud speaker. Apparently no one had mentioned his little habit to the teachers. Luckily, there wasn't a rule to say _how_ you had to ride your broom.

Okami started to almost kill the opposition, stopping Gryffindor from winning any points. The game barely qualified as target practice.

Halfway in, Gryffindor called a time out. Apparently the rain was bothering their sight.

Thirty minutes after they restarted, Okami felt something was wrong. He looked down, ignoring the bludgers and saw what.

Dementors had invaded the pitch. He snarled and flew to Flint.

"Call a time out! Those damn things have gotten on the pitch!"

Flint reluctantly looked where Okami was pointing, and saw that he wasn't joking in the least. He signaled to Madam Hooch to pause the game.

Whether they could hear the whistle or not wasn't his problem. Getting rid of the dementors before someone fell was.

Okami landed close to the fell creatures and made a series of handsigns too fast to be seen by civilian eyes.

"_Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"_

The amount of flames that hit the dementors was staggering. The students watched in shock as Okami, Naruto and Sasuke proceeded to chase the dementors off with what they believed to be foreign spells.

By the time the game was finally won (Draco had caught the snitch while Okami effectively distracted everyone from the fact that the time out was already over) the dementors had fled.

While magic had very little effect on the creatures, chakra hurt them.

Especially when it was Okami doing the blasting.

* * *

Okami could care less if his own house was terrified of him. Then he had a stroke of genius, and decided to show them another piece of ninja arts.

(He was going to borrow Naruto's favorite joke on guys later.)

"_Summoning Jutsu!"_

Howl appeared and yawned.

"Yo."

Okami had prepared for the sudden squeal of the girls. He was very well aware of how adorable Howl was. The wolf barely looked old enough to have his eyes open!

Howl was so used to how girls treated him that he didn't mind the petting.

Draco watched all of this with amusement. Okami grinned.

"Ah, the wisdom of those with _way_ too many fangirls to count."

Draco gave him a look.

"My cousin and I suffer what is called by a good portion of the village we live in 'The Uchiha Curse'."

"The 'Uchiha' Curse?"

Okami mock sighed.

"By which I mean that any girl with even a smidgeon of interest in the male population hones in on our dark mystique like sharks to blood. Apparently a good majority of the Uchiha bloodline have this look that girls go nuts for."

Draco nodded in understanding.

"Same problem, developed a nasty attitude to keep them off."

"Sasuke has tried that, didn't work," said Okami.

The two sat there in companionable silence, both connecting in a way that would later be joked about by his own team.

* * *

Later that night, Okami made very, very sure that none of the girls were present for what he was about to unleash. All the boys were curious over the spell that Okami mentioned his brother had come up with to get out of trouble with his teachers.

Apparently they didn't understand why it only worked on males or females that were in the closet.

Okami smirked, put his hands in the appropriate seal, and said "Transform!"

Everyone coughed from the smoke, but when they got a good look at what was revealed, they all gaped.

Okami had used the most infamous trick Naruto had ever come up with. The Sexy no Jutsu, well known for causing massive nosebleeds.

He couldn't help laughing at the fact that he had gotten over two thirds of the male Slytherins to faint from blood loss.

In order to completely get his house, he upped the ante with the second part of the jutsu, which even the Third Hokage had admitted could effect him.

The Harem Jutsu.

* * *

Madam Pomphrey stared in shock as a good majority of the Slytherin house was carried in by the girls. Apparently Okami had showed them a trick his brother had come up with and they all fainted from shock.

Though she did wonder _why_ they all looked like they had been punched in the nose.

Okami stood there grinning like an idiot, knowing that Snape was going to be pissed over this. And that Naruto would easily guess what his brother had pulled.

By morning, it was all over the school that almost every male Slytherin had suffered from massive nosebleeds for no apparent reason.

Naruto, when he heard the news, cracked up and couldn't stop. He knew what Okami did.

Okami of course told Snape he would repeat the spell that he had used in private, only for the dour man to come out of his office blushing like mad.

Fred and George, when they saw that, had to know what Okami did so they could use it on Snape too.

"Ask Naruto. It's _his_ creation."

* * *

Naruto grinned as he had every male Gryffindor, including Ron, watching him with baited breath. They were about to witness the spell that put the entire male Slytherin population in the hospital wing from blood loss.

"_Harem Jutsu!"_

Hermione didn't understand why they all heard simultaneous thuds from the boy's dorm. So she was elected to see what it was.

"DEAR LORD! WHAT HAPPENED HERE?"

All the boys in Gryffindor tower were on the floor, passed out from massive nosebleeds. All except Naruto a few odd boys.

"What?"

"Why is everyone suffering from nosebleeds?"

"Um...oops?"

* * *

Sasuke really didn't want to do this. But Okami and Naruto blackmailed him into it.

The Ravenclaw boys were curious how Okami and Naruto managed to knock out their dorms in less than five minutes.

Sasuke had practiced with Naruto on this trick, but he would only use it this once.

"_Harem Jutsu!"_

* * *

Madam Pomphrey took one look at the harassed Cho Chang and said with a tired expression "Nosebleeds again?"

She nodded. The healer handed the girl several potions and decided to ask the boys exactly _what _they had done to the others.

Remus knew what they had done, and he had a hard time holding the desk from laughing. Naruto had used it on him once, but it hadn't taken as well as the boy had hoped. He could only wonder how Padfoot had taken that shock.

_(How Sirius Black reacted to the Harem jutsu...)_

_Sirius watched with amusement. Word had spread fast that the foreigners had a way of knocking out every straight male in the castle in less than five minutes._

_Naturally he was curious, if only to see the prank in action._

_So when a sheer harem of well endowed females with blond hair, blue eyes, cat ears and tails came out of nowhere, he was gaping in shock._

_Right before he started to drool. Too bad the smoke kept the good bits from being seen. He still had a doggy grin of mischief when he saw all the boys except Naruto passed out from nosebleeds._

* * *

"So what's this Hogsmeade place like?" asked Okami.

Fred and George gave him an amused look. They had begged Naruto to teach them his trick, but unfortunately they couldn't do it properly.

"Boring, after a while. Though they sell this stuff called butterbeer that has a little bit of alcohol in it."

Okami grinned.

"You guys want to hear a funny story involving how Naruto created that spell he used on you?"

Okami retold the twins about Naruto and the village leader's grandson.

Which had them in stitches when they learned how Naruto had first used his Harem technique to get payback on some teacher who was being a total asshole.

Okami zoomed in on the chocolate. And practically grinned when he saw the blood pops.

"You thinking of giving those to...?" asked Naruto.

"You know how much Mum loves blood. She might actually enjoy these."

The twins were a bit surprised neither brother hit Zonko's Joke Shop...until they explained that they came up with better stuff all the time.

Which resulted in the twins challenging the brothers to an all out prank war. Original stuff only, the only limits was that the pranks didn't humiliate the subject too much.

The terms agreed to, the boys all stocked up on supplies.

What the twins didn't know was that Okami had a way to get extra supplies from home.

* * *

Anko looked up when she felt her personal snakes hiss in amusement. Which meant Okami had a message for her.

"_Little Wolf asks that you give Momo his journeyman prankster supplies. He didn't have enough time to pack them."_

"Why?" she asked, though she knew the answer would amuse her.

"_Something about a prank war with a pair of identical twins. Apparently the two sides agreed to only use original prank ideas rather than the overused commercial stuff."_

Anko couldn't help the laughter. Trust her son to hone in on the pranksters and get into a prank war.

She knew where Okami stored all his incriminating evidence that he often reused. She packed it all into a storage scroll that could only be opened by snake summoners. Momo the water moccasin swallowed it whole and disappeared.

* * *

Okami sensed from his black mamba that his mother had gotten his message.

His smirk turned unholy as he removed the scroll from the water moccasin.

The cackle that followed gave every Slytherin who shared a room with him nightmares for months.

McGonagall stared at her common room in shock.

Every wall was covered in snakes and green and silver paint. She could vaguely hear Snape's howl of rage when he found the red and gold coloring in his common room.

To make it worse, the two brothers had signed their handiwork as usual. On the off chance the teachers could catch them, they knew full well that any punishment dealt would be nothing compared to how their old academy teacher reacted.

The twins, upon seeing the brothers opening gambit, went next.

They booby trapped all the heads off house. Flitwick had fake gold rain down on him, Snape had an unexpected shower, McGonagall appeared drunk for the day from the catnip laced papers, and Sprout had pollen drop without warning on her head, causing her to sneeze from an allergy they didn't know she had.

Okami happened to be there for Professor Sprout, and reacted accordingly. Her throat went back to normal thanks to his timely intervention with his special pens.

* * *

Okami smirked when he devised this prank up with his brother. They had both managed to get pictures of the infamous Molly Weasly.

They could easily duplicate her voice, since she had a habit of shrieking at her twin sons using a rather annoying invention called Howlers.

The twins had naturally long since learned to drown said letters out through years of practice.

Naruto who was the most comfortable in female form, would play Mrs. Weasly.

The twins were about to be in for a rude shock at breakfast.

"_FRED AND GEORGE WEASLY!"_

Both twins jumped up and fell over from shock. Their mother was standing behind them in a full rage over something. They cowered from her wrath as she gave them a strict rant over something.

It wasn't until they saw Okami having a hard time breathing that they realized something was up.

Suddenly their mother vanished in a puff of smoke, revealing a laughing Naruto.

"Oh kami! Your faces!"

The entire Gryffindor table couldn't help the laughter. In their minds the twins just got a good dose of their own medicine.

Both twins, when they realized they had just been outdone rather spectacularly by Naruto and Okami, looked at the two laughing boys with evil expressions.

"You do realize..."

"This means war."

"I thought we were already in a full scale prank war?" said Naruto, mock thinking about it.

Okami laughed harder.


	10. Chapter 10

When the prank war was finally won (much to the horror of the twins Naruto and Okami had them beat easily) the students and teachers breathed a sigh of relief.

Much to the amusement/horror of everyone around them, Naruto and Okami had a tendency to hit the prefects more than the teachers.

Mainly because while the prefects could deduct points, they couldn't give detentions simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. (At least they hoped that was the reason.)

Okami and Naruto, from many years fleeing the scene of a crime with Jounin and Chunin level ninjas chasing after them, easily evaded the prefects hexes.

It had only taken three pranks before the prefects realized what a great stress relief it was to attempt hexing the brothers. Especially when they realized how good the two were at dodging the relatively slow spells. (Compared to the kunai and shuriken the jounin and chunin loved to throw at them, the spells were in slow mo.)

Of course everyone was wondering where the reports of Sirius Black kept coming from. It was like the man had somehow dropped off the face of the earth!

* * *

Naruto dragged his dog to the Room of Requirement right before Halloween, where his team was waiting. Remus was there as well, more out of amusement than anything.

Sirius put up a major fight, sensing he wouldn't like what was coming next. Too bad he was no match for Naruto's jounin level strength.

He whimpered, fearing that the boys were going to feed him to the dementors or that his true nature had been discovered.

Instead he was thrown into a large tub and came out sputtering. At least they hadn't added any soap to it.

Remus was on the sidelines laughing his ass off.

"Moony!" whined Sirius.

"Huh... I would have thought he would look like something the dog dragged in," drawled Okami.

Sirius stared at the shinobi, wondering why they weren't afraid of him...not that he was complaining mind you.

"You aren't turning me into the Ministry?" he asked surprised.

"Why bother? You were never any real threat to the students. Those demented things were a bigger threat than you," said Naruto.

"We knew from the start that it was you Padfoot. But the chances that you could harm a student with these four around were so laughable that we didn't say anything," said Remus, grinning.

Seeing his confusion, the four ninja demonstrated exactly how they could have killed him in many painful ways had he actually proven to be a threat.

Finally he did the only sane thing by raising his hands and saying "I'm innocent?"

Remus gave him a look.

"We went with Peter. That damn rat somehow managed to get stationed here at the school, and I escaped to kill his traitorous ass," said Sirius quickly.

"Give us a description and we can catch him," said Okami.

Naruto had kept a firm hold on Sirius' neck while he explained his story. Okami had dragged him into one of his ANBU classes, so the boy could tell that Sirius was telling the truth, at least in his own mind.

"He's good."

Sirius did better than give them a description. He gave them a photo from the Daily Prophet.

"Is that...Ron?"

"That rat on his shoulder is Peter. Bastard has been inside a pure-blood family this whole time," Sirius spat out.

"Right. Well if your story checks out, this idiot will have _us _to deal with. You can watch though..." grinned Okami evilly.

"Okami, you have that look on your face again," said Sasuke.

"Which evil look?"

"The one that makes Anko clap with sinister joy at the fact that her son is about to do her proud," said Naruto.

"You mean the _I'm going to cause someone's life to become a living hell and no one will complain about it_ look or the _I'm going to cause immense pain and get praised for it_ look?"

"A bit of both actually," said Sasuke.

"Oh goody. I've been meaning to practice that one."

Remus only looked amused as the boys plotted how they were going to torture and interrogate the traitor, if Sirius was telling the truth.

* * *

Naruto easily placed the fake evidence on Ron's bed. As far as the boy would be concerned, Scabbers had died in his sleep. It had taken some doing to find a rat around Scabbers coloring and cut off the toe. The damn things were hard to find with all the cats in the castle.

Okami was waiting patiently for Naruto to bring him the rat. Normally they wouldn't have paid it any mind, but the chakra signature was too strong for a normal rat.

Sirius was waiting with Sasuke keeping a firm hold on his shoulder, kunai at the ready. The man had no doubt the boy would kill him in a heartbeat if he tried to run.

Once Naruto secured the door and all the exits were firmly sealed shut (Hinata was there to seal off the traitor's energy points just in case) Remus took out his wand.

The rat seemed to triple it's efforts to escape, which was pointless since Okami had it in a vice grip in his dragonhide gloves. He dropped it a scant second after Remus hit the rat with an animagi revealing spell.

Where a grungy old rat had been, Peter Pettigrew took it's place. Missing finger and all.

Sirius tensed, fully prepared to strangle the rat with his bare hands, if Sasuke hadn't given him a stronger than necessary grip than normal on his shoulder.

"So... You are Pettigrew."

"Don't let him kill me!" the man shrieked in a ratty voice.

Okami gave him his warmest smile.

"Oh don't worry. We'll protect you from _Sirius Black_ and the_ dementors_," he said in all honesty.

Seeing such sincerity in the boy's eyes relaxed the man long enough for him to sit down... Only to find himself bound in chains around his wrists, ankles, waist and neck. He looked at Okami in shock.

"You said you would protect me!" he cried in horror.

"Nii-chan said he would protect you from the escaped convict and those pain in the ass monsters outside," said Naruto, smirking.

"He never said that we would protect you from _him_," said Sasuke smugly.

Hinata hit the man's chakra points with such speed that he didn't have time to escape, not that he could with the chains holding him.

"He won't be able to transform now," said Hinata calmly. Her Byakugan returned to normal.

Peter screamed loudly until Naruto hit him with a silencing spell.

Okami looked at Sirius with amusement.

"So far your story is panning out. My question is this. Do you want to stay and watch or hang out with Remus in his office until we're done?"

Remus had departed as soon as Hinata closed off Peter's magical energy. He didn't want to see it.

Sirius looked at the boy with mixed awe and relief.

"I'll join Remus, provided I can watch at a later date through your memories."

"Fine, but you'll have to show me how."

Sirius transformed into Padfoot, and ran to Remus' office before the boy summoned his snake.

* * *

Anko had heard through their snake message system that he needed a full set of torture equipment for the traitor who killed his parents.

She had sent a full set of tools that she often used, and a short description on how to use them properly.

Naruto and the others waited outside for Okami. He was the torture specialist, not them.

Okami had his best Anko-look (as his cousins dubbed it) as he drew the first tool out for Peter to see. The man's eyes tripled in size.

"Now this fun little object is used to cut fingers off, one bone at a time. Which hand shall we test it on first?" said Okami, smiling in an unholy way.

There was a reason no one would ever dare betray Okami or his family. Anyone raised by Anko, the snake summoning, sadistic, foul tempered, dango obsessed, bitch queen of the T and I corps had to be unhinged from years of exposure to her.

Not to mention all the unpleasant ways she could torture someone simply by using psychological warfare (which even Ibiki had to admit, Okami was a natural at.)

Okami removed the silence spell with a wave of his hand. He wanted to hear this man scream as he cut into him.

Without warning his hitai-ate fell off. He didn't mind, since it would be the last thing Pettigrew ever saw.

Peter seemed to zone in on his odd scar above his left eye. The one which Okami had always hidden behind his bandanna (and later his ninja headband).

His whimpers increased when he realized exactly who was about to torture him. The son of the very man he had betrayed twelve years ago.

He pleaded with Okami, using his old name. Okami didn't even flinch or waiver at the name he had never used in his life.

"Now now Peter. There's no need for such theatrics. After all, thanks to your idiocy I became the man before you. You have only yourself to blame," said Okami, tutting in amusement.

Okami tuned out the useless prattle that came from Peter and instead focused on what he needed.

Peter was the one to reveal the Potter's location to the Dark Lord, not Sirius. He also revealed several other families he had betrayed before he hid himself. The information came fast, too fast for most civilians to catch.

Okami caught it all with his practiced methods, having Peter repeat everything with a slice of a knife.

Peeling a man's skin off one layer at a time was rather useful. He would have to inform his mother of that fact.

Once he was done, he bound and gagged Peter again.

Naruto opened the door, and made very sure not to look at the former rat.

"I'll use one of my doppelgangers to cover for you. We have an innocent man to clear."

"Agreed. Tell Sirius he is about to have his justice."

Naruto nodded, and made a clone of Okami. The two acted so much alike it would be almost impossible for a civilian to tell the difference.

Okami bundled up what was left of Pettigrew and left the castle. The dementors avoided him after he sent a fireball at them in warning.

* * *

_**Peter Pettigrew confirmed traitor and Death Eater! Sirius Black framed for Potter's deaths!**_

_In a surprising turn of events yesterday night, Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, was surprised when a man appeared carrying the mangled body of the formerly dead Peter Pettigrew._

_Pettigrew quickly revealed the truth about the deaths of Lily and James Potter, and the fact that he had willingly framed Sirius Black for the crime._

_Some Aurors present during this interview lost their lunch from the sight of Pettigrew's body, which appeared to have been tortured for several hours._

_The injuries however, did NOT look like they were inflicted by any spell known._

_This reporter wonders if sending Black to Azkaban without a trial was such a good idea..._

* * *

Sirius couldn't believe his luck. Not only had Remus believed him, but his name had been cleared by four thirteen year old children from a place he couldn't even name properly!

(Though when Okami had shown him exactly what he had done to Peter, Sirius couldn't help but feel a grim satisfaction.)

To top it all off, Okami hinted that he knew where Sirius's godson was. So it was with some disappointment that Naruto shipped his 'dog' back home to the Elemental Countries. He had been given the all clear from Okami to send Sirius to Konoha.

(Sirius would later end up dating Kiba's sister, since they both loved dogs.)

* * *

By the time Christmas rolled around, the four were shivering like mad.

Cold weather did _not_ agree with any of them.

"Naruto, if you whine any louder than I have, I swear I will tell Ayame you realized you love your ramen cold and without broth," snarled Okami.

(Okami had done that once. It would never be repeated if Naruto had anything to say about it.)

Naruto wisely shut up.

"What is rah-men and how did you use it to shut him up?" asked Hermione.

Apparently Naruto had been grating on her nerves.

Okami quickly slapped a hand on Naruto's mouth.

"Buckwheat or egg noodles in a special broth. If you ever ask that question of my idiot brother, he will immediately go on a two hour rant of how it's the food of the gods and such. We usually try to keep his mind from wandering in that general direction for sanity reasons," said Okami.

"Like we keep you and Anko-sensei from talking about Dango flavors," said Sasuke dryly.

"Can I help it if my mother got me addicted to the stuff?"

"So what are you guys going to do for Christmas?" asked Ron.

It was Naruto who immediately silenced everyone in the great hall. You could hear the crickets outside from the shocked silence.

"What the hell is Christmas?" he asked.

Everyone, students and teachers alike, stared at the blond. They realized he honestly had no clue what Christmas was!

"You...don't have Christmas?" asked Hermione carefully. The entire school waited with baited breath at their answer.

"We go to the local temples that hold Winter Solstice festivals," answered Sasuke.

"Well... Christmas is a mostly Christian or Catholic holiday..." started Hermione.

"Hold up. What in the hell is 'Christian' and 'Catholic'?" asked Okami.

Her mouth opened and shut in sheer disbelief.

It was Hinata who answered.

"The Outside has a multitude of religions, Okami-kun. Christianity and Catholicism are two of the most popular," said Hinata.

"Oh... So what's so special about Christmas?" asked Okami,.

"From what I've read, it's mostly to celebrate the birth of their Savior, even though historical texts put the actual birth around spring."

"Then why is it set on the Winter Solstice?" asked Sasuke.

"The Romans found it easier to merge the religion with the more nature based ones by making the holiday on the Winter Solstice rather than spring," answered Hinata.

"And why is everyone so excited about a Winter Solstice holiday?" asked Naruto.

Everyone in the great hall was listening to this whole exchange in disbelief and amusement. It was Hermione who found her voice first.

"Because on Christmas we exchange presents with loved ones," she said finally.

"That's it? That's why everyone is so excited about this silly holiday? Back home we could go to all sorts of stalls and booths. Who cares about presents?" asked Okami.

At that declaration, sound returned to the great hall. Clearly Okami and his family/friend could care less about presents. At the teacher's table, Remus was trying his best not to laugh at the shocked looks of everyone.

* * *

Okami and his team all agreed unanimously to sleep in Gryffindor Tower, since it had the best heating spells of the castle. Most of the students, after getting over the shock that there _were_ in fact people who had no idea what Christmas was, had opted to head home.

The Ministry had refused to remove the dementors, since Sirius Black had yet to receive a proper trial.

It was with great surprise that the team woke up...and found several mounds of what appeared to be wrapped boxes under a decorated tree. Several of them were labeled to one person or another.

It was a fairly even amount for the shinobi.

Hermione was one of the rare students who had decided to stay behind (mostly because there was a high chance that the transfer students would have even more trouble understanding Christmas traditions) had seen their surprised looks.

"What...the hell?" asked Okami.

"You're supposed to open them. Usually by making as big a mess as possible," she told them, amused.

"I know what a present looks like! I was wondering why there are so many of them..." grumbled Okami. He looked at the paper, and chucked the box to Sasuke, who caught it with ease.

It was a book.

With that, the team (plus Hermione, the Weaslys and Draco, the last having come under protest) tore into the pile surrounding the almost swamped tree.

It was very clear that the transfers were far more popular than even they had suspected.

(To Sasuke's relief, most of his fans had sent practical gifts, like books.)

Naruto was grinning like the fox container he was, as most of his gifts were pranks...or prank ideas. Okami had to hide his snickering as he kept getting wolf or snake related gifts from his fans...and a few people who wanted to stay firmly on his good side.

Hinata kept blushing, as she kept opening some rather amusing gifts. Namely a few clothing items that were clearly from the girls in her house.

It was a while before Hermione (and Draco) noted that they hadn't bothered to get any gifts for each other. And it was Draco who brought it up.

"Why didn't you lot buy anything for the others?"

"Because we already have the gift we want most. Hinata is far away from her rather...strict...family, Sasuke still has someone left of his clan that could care less what friends he makes or how he chooses to live his life, Naruto has people who actually give a damn what happens to him..." said Okami, counting the reasons on his fingers.

"And you?" asked Hermione.

"I have my mother, and a family that loves me. Why would I ask for more? Besides, we aren't that big on material things."

"How...noble of you..." said Hermione, surprised.

"Can't exactly get too attached to things that have a tendency to break under our rather insane strength..." Okami clarified with a smirk.

She tossed a badly wrapped present at him, with an annoyed huff.

Okami caught it, saw the name, and decided to wait until later. He had seen something outside and he was determined to have fun.

"So...snow war?" he said.

Naruto jumped up, and grinned evilly.

"I claim Okami, Draco, Sasuke and Hinata!" he announced loudly.

"Fine, I get the twins, Percy and Hermione!" said Ron.

Needless to say, Ron's team ended up being completely slaughtered by Naruto's...


	11. Chapter 11

Okami rather enjoyed his first Christmas. Especially when they slaughtered Ron and his brothers. (He felt sorry for Hermione, he really did.)

Even the feast was great. Though he really enjoyed the horrified look Snape gave him when he somehow obtained a rather realistic pair of cat ears and promptly stuck them on the man's head (complete with chakra strings so they wouldn't come off, no matter how many times he tried to undo them).

Right as he crashed in the bed next to Naruto, he belatedly remembered the last three gifts he hadn't bothered to unwrap.

The first one was a strange cloak, which upon later inspection he found turned him invisible.

The second was a strange earring, which he promptly swapped out with the one he was already wearing. (Anko, when she was increasing his tolerance to pain, had pierced his ears with a senbon. Okami only put up with it because his mother let him chose what he would put in the holes.)

The third was a letter from Gringotts.

He would read that in the morning.

* * *

_'Dear Lord Potter-Mitarashi_

_We at Gringotts would like to thank you and your team for assisting us in contacting your Fire Shadow. In return for the large amount of new business your arrival has brought up, we are formally making you and your family into members of the goblin nations. Should you ever require assistance, please don't hesitate to contact us._

_Signed,_

_Griphook, Caretaker of the Potter-Gryffindor vaults."_

Okami filed that information in the appropriate places, then promptly burned the letter as he was taught.

Some secrets should _stay_ secret.

He was really glad that he took that Occulmency course. Not only did it make his mind impossible to read, but it helped him remember vital information when he needed access to it.

(In case you are wondering, Okami turned his mind into a giant library. He simply has to go to the main directory and he can remember anything he needs.)

* * *

"Explain to me again _why_ we are still here?" asked Sasuke. He hated the cold.

Naruto gave a mighty sneeze. They were from a rather warm country.

"Because the damn contract doesn't end until this school year does," snapped Okami.

For reasons unknown, only Okami was fairing better against the rather cold temperatures of Scotland. Everyone else seemed to catch the flu all at the same time.

That didn't meant he had to like it though.

"How many more months do we have to stay here?"

"It's January, and they don't let out until halfway into May," retorted Okami.

"So...we have five more months of this hell," Sasuke summed up.

Naruto sneezed...though from where Okami was sitting it sounded more like a swear.

Hinata, at least, had managed to avoid catching the flu that the boys had caught.

Mostly because she found out she had a passion for the healing arts, and Madam Pomphrey was more than happy to teach her. She had caught the first sneeze, and had promptly given the girl enough potions to knock the flu out before it could take proper hold.

"Well, since we're stuck in here until the damn year is over, how about career options?" suggested Sasuke, sneezing even harder.

"Mum's got a spot for me at the T and I corps. Sirius apparently shared the memory I gave them, and Ibiki was so impressed that I'm going to be apprenticed to Mum," said Okami, coughing.

"That pervert from the springs said he would take me on as an apprentice for two years," said Naruto.

"I heard there was a doctor who lives in what remains of the Land in the Sky. Said he was planning on apprenticing another person."

"Why not Tsunade?"

"One: she's our Hokage and would likely blackmail me into doing her paperwork. Two: she said she's had enough of those damn stalker fan girls for one lifetime."

"And that freaky sannin won't be looking for you in Sky country," said Okami knowingly.

Hinata walked up to them. She had been turned into the unofficial helper in the Hospital Wing.

"I got a message from your mother last week. You're going to have two short term missions when you get home. There's also a good chance Kakashi Hatake will be joining you," she told them.

As one, they all sneeze/swore.

"Tell her we'll agree to it, so long as we get paid extra!" growled Okami.

"She also mentioned that after those two you get a paid vacation for an entire month."

The three boys cheered. They definitely _needed _a vacation. Mostly because the dementors outside had been trying their last nerve.

* * *

Much to the surprise of the students, the transfers _did_ know what Valentine's day was. Or at least Hinata did.

Though many of the girls were very disappointed when none of the boys offered them chocolate.

Fortunately, Hermione had ordered a book on Japanese customs (so Okami and his family wouldn't catch her so off guard like the time at Christmas) so she explained patiently to the large swarms of fan girls that in Japan, Valentine's day was a holiday where only the girls gave chocolate.

The boys would have to reciprocate with white items a month later. Depending on the item, they would learn if their feelings were similar.

Frankly Hermione found the Japanese way of doing things a bit more sane.

Hinata gave both Okami and Sasuke a small package of Honeyduke's chocolate. They accepted her feelings as a friend. Though only Okami hadn't been surprised when she gave Naruto a heart made of chocolate that she had personally made.

He had long suspected she had a serious crush on Naruto. Here at Hogwarts she could convey that crush without worrying about it getting back to her family.

Naruto dutifully accepted (first time he ever got chocolate from a girl. Usually Okami shared his.)

* * *

Later that night, Okami and Sasuke dragged Naruto into Remus's office, and told Naruto about Hinata's longstanding crush on him. Remus was thoroughly amused by the surprised look on the blond's face.

"Naruto, you have to face the fact that Hinata really likes you. Now you have two options. You can either acknowledge her feelings towards you and actually get a girlfriend... Or you can tell her that you don't have feelings for her and let her down easy," Okami told his brother calmly.

Naruto blushed heavily. He actually liked Hinata, because she was one of the rare girls who hadn't fallen head over heels for his brother and Sasuke. And she was always nice to him, even when the others tried to put him down.

"So what's it going to be? Friends or girlfriend?" asked Sasuke.

"I wouldn't mind dating her...but what about her dad? You know they all hate me!"

Okami and Sasuke grinned.

"Leave her dad to us."

Remus was amused, and wondered if they even knew what they were getting themselves into.

"Please tell me your mother gave you three the 'talk'..." he muttered.

Okami, Naruto and Sasuke all froze, looking at him horrified.

"Remus, surely you know my mother is a avid Icha Icha fan..." said Okami slowly.

Remus nodded, he would have been surprised if she wasn't. Even he had a few novels. Then his mind caught up to that statement.

"Oh dear lord... She had you read those?"

"When we were nine," Naruto shuddered.

Remus felt sorry for the boys, having to learn about...that...at such a young age.

"She actually got me a complete set," whined Okami.

Remus decided to change the subject.

"So how is Sirius doing?"

Naruto smirked.

"He's dating the Inuzuka heir. According to Anko, Kiba's sister could care less that Sirius is ten years older than she is."

He couldn't help it, he burst out laughing. Sirius _would_ find a girlfriend who could talk to dogs.

* * *

Hinata was both nervous and excited. While Naruto hadn't rejected her feelings towards him, he also had yet to show any outward signs that he had any towards her.

So when March fourteenth rolled around, it was with trepidation that Hinata went to the great hall.

Naruto was with his brother. All three of them had gifts for her. Okami and Sasuke had found that Honeydukes sold white chocolate, which they snuck out to buy for her.

But when she saw what Naruto had for her, she nearly fainted.

Clearly Okami and Sasuke had talked to the boy, because he had three white roses tied together with a silk ribbon.

Hermione and others watched the exchange with interest. Both Naruto and Hinata were blushing like mad, while Okami and his cousin watched with amusement.

After that, both of them could be seen holding hands in the corridors.

* * *

Anko looked up to see her son's owl. He had placed a semi permanent cooling charm so the snow owl wouldn't pass out from the climate of the Fire country.

She read the letter, and her eyes shot up with amusement. So the girl who her friend Kuranai had practically adopted had finally confessed to Naruto...and the boy had accepted it!

She couldn't wait to see the reaction of that stick in the mud Hiashi!

Just in case though, she went to Kuranai, looking highly amused.

"What has you in such a good mood, and why do I get the feeling that I won't like it?" she asked.

Anko laughed. The genjutsu user knew her too well.

"Hinata finally confessed to fox boy."

Kuranai's eyebrows shot up in shock.

"He accepted it?"

"According to Okami, they've been holding hands ever since."

Kuranai groaned. While she was happy for the shy girl, she knew that Hiashi would be a pain in the ass when he found out.

"There's more," said Anko, highly amused.

"What? Sasuke found a girlfriend too?"

"No. Okami wants us to find Hinata's mother and see if we can get her schedule. The boys are going to ambush her and tell her the news so she can intervene before Hiashi gets too annoying about the whole thing."

It was a sound strategy. Hiashi was a force to be reckoned with, but his wife was someone any sane person would listen to, unless they wanted to be on the wrong end of her jutsu.

She had mostly retired from shinobi life because of certain injuries she had sustained from a mission gone bad.

To find Hinata's mother, they would have to find a Hyuuga sympathetic to Okami.

Fortunately, Neji actually liked the boys, and was somewhat fond of Hinata. Besides, he enjoyed annoying his uncle and getting away with it.

(A few times that Okami and his brother pranked the Hyuuga compound, they had roped Neji and Hinata along for the ride. Finding that some of his anger towards his father's death had dissipated by angering the elders and escaping, Neji became hooked on pranks.)

* * *

The Ministry had yet to remove the dementors, even when Sirius actually came into the Department full of the magical law enforcement (complete with his new girlfriend who was decidedly unimpressed by the Aurors) to have his trial.

Aside from the slight misunderstanding from the rookies (which resulted in a few of them finding a rather large dog on their throats, courtesy of Sirius's girlfriend) Sirius was finally cleared.

Still, the Ministry refused to remove the foul beasts.

Why? Because somehow, even after being tortured in a rather efficient manner by Okami, Pettigrew escaped.

And Fudge actually thought Peter would return to Hogwarts with Okami there. It was laughable.

* * *

"So Okami, are you coming back next year?" asked Draco.

"Not a chance in hell. Even if that old goat paid me to return, I would send someone else. Besides, I've been apprenticed to my Mother's department for the next six months after this year is over."

Sasuke, who had gotten in the habit of coming into the Slytherin dorm even though he had finally managed to get rid of his fan girls in Ravenclaw, looked amused.

"Chances are that I'll be apprenticed to some high class medic for six months, and Naruto has already gotten an apprenticeship with one of the legendary sages back home."

"And Hinata?"

Okami shrugged.

"No apprenticeship as of yet, but she will be with her team for some time."

Draco appeared both amused and surprised.

"Are you aware how rare it is in the magical communities to even get an apprenticeship? Most have to fight tooth and nail for one."

Okami looked him dead in the eye, and said bluntly "Are you aware how weak your precious community is compared to ours? We have well over three hundred fighters in our village alone, and it wouldn't even take a tenth of them to wipe out every damn Death Eater who took up arms with your ridiculous Dark Lord."

Sasuke looked up at that.

"He's telling the truth. Maybe if you people actually developed a back bone instead of acting like sheep, you wouldn't have suffered so much under the reign of this Voldemort character."

Stone silence met his words, though Okami suspected it was because they dared to speak _his_ name.

It was Draco who broke the silence.

"Can you blame us? The damn Ministry has banned magic and even sent people to prison simply for trying to improve our community. Dumbledore himself had taken away valuable classes that would have improved our magical cores, leaving us weak."

Okami looked at him and said bluntly "Then perhaps it's time for you guys to have a change in the guard. Sometimes the old are so set in their ways, assured that they know best that it can cause more harm than good. If Dumbledore is trying to control this...Harry Potter...more than he is trying to keep you alive in the current climate, then it's time he steps down."

"Our previous village leader stepped down because he was getting too old, and made sure to install a good successor. Thanks to that, our village is thriving, even after being dealt a serious blow and losing several fighters."

Their words stirred something that had been stomped out early on by their parents.

Old practices, like the Statute of Secrecy and the laws that came after it, were starting to hurt more than help them. Muggles had shot past their old fears, and had learned to move past the wizarding community.

Muggleborns had attempted over the years to bring them back into the light, but had either been shot down or killed outright by the traditionalists.

Now they were in a downward spiral that could lead to the collapse of the European magical communities.

"How can we break the cycle?" asked Draco finally.

"To break the cycle, you'll have to throw all the previous social norms you held close to the four winds. Forget all this blood purity nonsense. While some old ways can still be used in today's world, all this crap about marrying your cousins to insure the purity of your line is killing you one generation at a time."

That seemed to horrify the other dark students. The mere thought of marrying outside the pure-blood social strata sickened them.

"If you can't stand the thought of marrying at least a half-blood, then perhaps you should leave Europe to look for your partners. Where in the name of Hecate did you lot get the idea that pure-bloods were strictly limited to Europe alone?" asked Sasuke.

That idea went down somewhat better. Marrying outside the old families was tolerated, if frowned upon by the older members.

He frowned. Something had changed in the school, and it had originated in the Slytherin dorms.

* * *

Slowly, but surely, the Slytherins had started a change that he had fought for years to prevent.

Muggleborns were started to be heard by their pure-blood counterparts. Some of the older students, who could move abroad, spoke freely of going to other countries to look for work. Some were interested in marrying outside the blood in Europe.

Granger had managed to infiltrate the odd team Konoha had sent, but she had yet to find his target. He was well aware of the muggle contraptions called colored contacts.

Which is why he was thoroughly annoyed that he couldn't figure out if Sasuke Uchiha or Okami Mitarashi was the Potter brat.

He would have to find the boy soon, before he left the school.

* * *

Okami stretched. Bending over a desk for hours on end was bad for the health...of people around him.

Being that bored tended to create the most evil pranks the village had ever seen. A few had been acted on.

Anko, when she learned what caused their creation, was extremely glad that her son never wanted to be Hokage. The idea of the pranks her son could create after being forced to do that much paperwork scared her.

Okami was about to head to the library when he ran into Dumbledore.

His headache grew to a migraine when he met the eyes of the headmaster. It took him a minute to realize why.

Suddenly he glared, and threw the old man out. If he thought he was going to get away with attempted to break into his steel trap mind, he had another thing coming.

Naruto took one look at his brother, and realized with horror that Okami was going to go through with the most horrifying prank he had ever conceived.

He quickly warned the others to avoid the great hall for the next few days.


	12. Chapter 12

Okami waited until the hall was full of students. Dumbledore watched him with interest.

At breakfast, he had announced a special treat for the school. He was going to demonstrate one of his village's special techniques for everyone.

The fact that the Weasly twins, the other transfers, Hermione, Draco and Neville were missing should have been the first clue that it wasn't going to be pleasant.

Alas, only Snape had seen them hide in the kitchens, and upon finding out what Okami had in mind, joined them.

Okami's smirk was like the devil himself, as he said clearly "Summoning Jutsu!"

When the smoke cleared, a good minute had passed before the screaming started.

The two standing there were the most horrifying creatures to ever grace the eyes of Hogwarts. To add to the horror was the fact that they were close enough to the headmaster to compare the three's color combinations.

Dumbledore as a personal rule avoided green like the plague. He often wore colors that would clash horribly with the color green.

So when Okami summoned the most infamous pair of shinobi to Hogwarts...

The most common phrases heard in the great hall was _"My eyes, they're burning!" "NO! TOO MUCH SPANDEX!"_

Okami had summoned Rock Lee and Might Gai to Hogwarts, in their full glory.

He then turned to the Jounin and his apprentice, pointed at Dumbledore, and said "This man is behaving quite unyouthful. Perhaps you should show him how a teacher is supposed to act."

Might Gai took the challenge with his usual fervor, and soon had Dumbledore running for his life.

The screaming started again with the usual greeting of Gai and Lee. It was horrific for people who had never been exposed to the insanity of most shinobi.

Civilians as a rule did not associate with ninja unless they had to for two reasons.

One was because the shinobi could kill them without blinking, but the main reason was this.

Most shinobi tend to develop insane quirks rather early on in their careers. Quirks that only got worse the more missions they took on.

* * *

For the next three days, Gai and Lee terrorized most of the school. Particularly if Dumbledore was around. It wasn't until Draco had the misfortune of running across them that Okami finally sent them back, to the relief of the school.

"Who the hell were those two?" asked Draco, shuddering.

"Might Gai, the supposed Handsome Green Devil of our village...and Rock Lee, one of the rare people who could become a mercenary without any magic to back him up. Those two were put on the list of people to bind and gag for going overboard so often by the hospitals."

"And you brought them here _why?"_ asked Hermione in a tone that sent shivers down Okami's spine. It sounded a little too much like his mother.

"Dumbledore royally pissed me off. He tried to break into my mind without permission."

After that, no one spoke of those two again. Though Okami and his brother found a new way to shock and horrify their audience by copying the Green Nightmare. Sometimes even taking their form for a more dramatic effect.

(It took the twins weeks to catch on to what they were doing, and to then ask for a picture of the two so they could copy the brothers. Okami gave it to them with an evil flourish.)

* * *

It was April, and they had a full month before the term ended and they could go home.

So in a manner of the best prankster duo in Konoha, Naruto and Okami roped Sasuke and Hinata into a total prank war with the twins. The results would be horrific.

It had started off with a joke gift to Remus. A random owl landed in his breakfast, and had a package for him. When he opened it, he heard twin laughter from the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables. Both the shinobi and the twins were cracking up.

Why you ask?

It was a muggle flea collar, with his name on it. (Sirius would later hear of the joke, and start howling with laughter, to the annoyance of Hana. He later got that as a birthday gift, and took the collar with good humor.)

Then things steadily grew worse.

Someone convinced the first and second years to sing the most raunchy and lewd drinking songs from around the world (to the horror of almost all the teachers), and then another sold untold amounts of what was labeled as 'Gryffindor Courage' to the Hufflepuff and Slytherin houses.

It later turned out to be Firewhiskey.

Things steadily grew more horrific, as someone locked Draco Malfoy with Ronald Weasly in a closet for five hours. When later asked, Okami admitted that he wanted to see if the two would have hot monkey action.

That resulted in Draco hexing his good friend all the way to the hospital wing, to the laughter of the twins.

Naruto then proceeded to annoy his teacher (namely Trelawny) by somehow finding a muggle toy called a magic eight ball...and bringing it to class to give his own predictions of the year.

She wasn't nearly as amused as the students.

It didn't take long for the twins to retailiate against their personal rivals.

They introduced Peeves to paintball guns. And gave him paintballs filled with random potions, with the most horrifying being one that turned the victim in the Gai or Lee.

Things really heated up when someone convinced the Gryffindors to sing a rather raunchy song called _"Draco Malfoy takes it up the arse"_ during the Gryffindor/Slytherin match.

Okami nearly fell off his broom from laughing so hard.

(The bludgers had nothing to do with that one, because after six months of feeling his fists, they had somehow learned to _avoid _his magical aura.)

When Draco learned who taught the Gryffindors that song, he hexed both twins into the hospital wing. And then convinced Hinata to give them gender change potions that would take a week to wear off.

* * *

Right before the final exams started, Okami scared almost every student to go into the great hall. Where there were many, many pies waiting for them. All of the teachers had been locked out of the hall, and Okami waited until Remus gave them the all clear before yelling "FOOD FIGHT!"

It took exactly three seconds before a Slytherin was hit with a pie full of whip cream, and then all out pandemonium occurred. It never occurred to the students to worry about house points. All they cared was launching one pie after another at people they disliked.

When Dumbledore _finally_ got the door open, he blinked as the light in the great hall dimmed.

And then Snape did the unthinkable. He laughed when he realized that the headmaster was covered head to toe in pies. He was practically buried in them. All the students watched in shock seeing their cranky potionsmaster cackling like well...the Weasly twins after a prank.

The upside? They couldn't deduct any points. The downside? Every student there had to clean up the mess without wands.

Needless to say the twins and the shinobi team were nowhere to be found during the clean up. Seconds after the students launched hundreds of pies at the headmaster, they had escaped through a little known side door.

* * *

Remus looked at his tea with suspicion. Ever since the start of the prank war, both the twins and the demon duo had gone with pranking anyone for three days. Which meant they were up to something.

So instead of drinking or eating anything that day, he poured his tea in a convenient plant nearby, to the annoyance of Sprout.

It turned out to be a wise idea, because no sooner had the other teachers downed their coffee and tea, the prank went off.

Someone had doused them all with veritaserum. Only Remus, who knew the pranking duo better than they thought, escaped the prank. The Weasly twins and the shinobi team all cackled from the mayhem.

* * *

Filch stalked over to the twins, fury in his eyes, and grabbed them smartly by the ears. The twins squawked in pain, proclaiming they were innocent of all charges, no matter what Snape had said.

It wasn't until they saw what happened to Mrs. Norris that they found out why they had been blamed.

Someone had shaved her bald. She looked like a skinless rat, and she was pissed.

(In the Gryffindor common room, Naruto was nursing his scratches. He hated cats, and the feeling was clearly mutual. Okami expertly placed bandages and cooling cream on the wounds.)

* * *

Okami looked up at the owls, wondering why the twins had been suspiciously missing for the past four hours.

Then he gaped.

Every owl in the hall was tie dyed in the most interesting combinations he had seen in a while. The only one that hadn't been hit was Okami's owl Yuki.

Then again, she had some suspicious looking blood on her claws. Sasuke had taken it upon himself to train Yuki by having her join his practice sessions with the crows and ravens he summoned once a week.

The result of which was that Yuki was now Okami's second personal summon animal. Whenever he needed to deliver a message, he would summon her wherever he was.

* * *

Okami was smirking, which had Hermione looking at him with suspicion. They were about to take the Arithimancy final, and he had broke one too many books with him.

When the teacher looked at the boy while he turned it in, he dropped something on her desk.

It was a book with mathimatical symbols on it. Curious she began to read...and was soon lost. She had absolutely no clue what half the things in the book were.

Hermione, wondering how Okami got the Arithimancy teacher so confused looking, looked at the book he had dropped.

It was a College level Advanced Calculus book. Complete with some of the most complicated equations around.

* * *

Okami was grinning evilly. He had managed to place Lupin under a genjutsu to fool the wolf's sense of smell. Which meant the werewolf would have no idea that he was about to turn into what many genin in Konoha suspected was a demonic cat sent from hell to torment them.

He was going to turn Remus Lupin into Tora. Complete with the evil little bow on it's ear.

Remus drank the potion...and five seconds later there was a very confused hell cat in his chair.

Naruto took one look at it, and screamed in fury "It's that damn cat! KILL IT, KILL IT, KILL IT!"

And then he proceeded to draw his kunai and chase after the horrified Lupin.

It did not help in the least when Sasuke and Hinata joined the chase with their rather pointy objects, all bent on killing 'Tora'.

Tora, the Fire Daimyo's cat, was well hated for a reason. Genins would either cry, swear or sob when they learned it was their turn again to capture the evil cat.

It took McGonagall and the other heads of house five hours before they could find out why the transfers (except Okami who was suspiciously missing from the chase) were trying to kill a cat.

"THAT CAT IS THE INCARNATION OF PURE EVIL! IT MUST _DIE_!"declared Naruto. The fact that even Hinata agreed with him spoke volumes on how much they hated it. Hinata normally liked animals.

And then without warning, the potion wore off, revealing a horrified Lupin.

And then Okami showed up, laughing his ass off.

Lupin looked at Okami and said flatly "Twenty points from Slytherin and three days detention!"

Okami cackled "Totally worth it!"

* * *

Draco looked at his mirror in horror. Someone had dyed his hair Weasly red.

And no matter what he did, he couldn't get it out. He walked out of the bathroom carefully, trying to avoid the others. He was going to ditch class if he had to.

Alas, he ran into Okami, who promptly dragged him kicking and cursing to the Great Hall.

Fred and George, when they saw the Red haired Draco, they declared him as the 'Long Lost Weasly Brother', to Ron's horror. Draco spent an agonizing day with Weasly red hair. The twins made sure to take several pictures of the joke.

Snape, despite his rather extensive knowledge of hair products, could not figure out _how_ Draco's hair suddenly turned Weasly red. It was a hard enough color to copy using spells.

Then Draco saw Okami leaning against the door and knew, without a doubt, who the culprit was.

"YOU!"

Okami put his hands into the seal of the Rat, and said "Kai!"

And just like that, Draco had platinum blond hair again.

"How did you...?"

Okami gave him his best infuriating smirk.

"I just placed a simple illusion over your hair. Too bad you don't know how to break our illusions."

Snape didn't bother trying to stop Draco. Draco was on Okami in a heartbeat, trying to strangle him.

* * *

It was a rather comical sight when the students watched all the teachers with what appeared to be bubbles in their nose. Further investigation revealed that someone had switched all of the teacher's drinks with highly carbonated sodas.

While Remus found the entire thing amusing, McGonagall and the others did not. To be fair, the only person who had even experienced the drinks before _was_ Remus.

Then there was the incident with the outside doors.

Someone charmed them all to lock out the students during a Hogsmeade visit, and then proceeded to use a Sonorus charm shouting _"You Shall Not Pass!"_

Hermione, when she heard that, facepalmed. She knew introducing the Weasly twins to _Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring_ was a bad idea. Particularly when they noted the resemblance Dumbledore had to Gandalf the Gray.

* * *

Snape was pissed, for lack of a better word. Why?

Someone had hexed him and then dressed him up as the Muggle Superhero Batman. He was just glad they hadn't gone the Penguin route at this point.

To add insult to injury, the culprit had also included the theme music from the show.

Of course only those with experience in the Mundane world even caught the joke.

Though even he had liked the joke shirt Naruto and his brothers handed out claiming that they were 'Bigger than Sirius Black'to all the boys.

He didn't know Remus could spew his tea out his nose from laughing.

* * *

It was less than a week before the term was over. In the time Okami had come to Hogwarts, he had pranked the entire school within an inch of it's sanity, proven a man's innocence, proved to his mother that he could handle interning at her department, made several allies for when he undoubtedly returned, and officially adopted the Weasly twins into the Uchiha clan.

(That last one was fairly recent, since Sasuke had told his cousin that he may as well adopt them, because he would no doubt pester Sasuke otherwise.)

To top it all off, Okami was bringing back more than his team to Konoha.

Hermione Granger, when she learned that they had excellent Magical Tutors in Okami's village (and a rather small amount of people who were qualified Dentists) was going back with them.

She had borrowed Okami's owl Yuki to talk to her parents, and they agreed it that a change of scenery would do them all good.

Tsunade had agreed to them coming, since she was interested in their profession.

Of course Okami was still keeping half an eye on the Headmaster.

Right before Okami left the Slytherin table, he felt something hit the back of his Hitai-ate headband. The cloth slid off his head, and he quickly tried to hide his scar with a genjutsu.

For all his ninja speed, he wasn't quick enough to hide the distinct lightning shaped scar.

The great hall became totally silent from shock. Even Draco was gaping from complete shock.

Okami decided to charm his ears from the uproar before the rumors started.

Just in time, since the general outcry would have killed him because of his ninja senses.

When he finally escaped to his common room, he knew that all hell would break loose tomorrow.

* * *

"Why didn't you tell us you were Harry Potter?" asked Draco.

All of the allies Okami had made over the past few months were giving him a look.

"Because it wasn't important. Do you really think I want people to bother me because of some dumbass scar on my head? There is a reason why I always wore my headband to class, even when McGonagall told me to take it off."

Even Draco had to admit the boy had a point. By keeping his identity in England a secret, he could insure he had actual friends and not followers.

Besides, the outcry of Harry Potter in Slytherin would have been bad enough.

"So who the hell knocked it off? I had that tied pretty securely this morning!" growled Okami.

"It was Dumbledore. I saw him leveling his wand in your direction," answered Snape.

The look in Okami's eyes spoke volumes on how much trouble the old man was in now.

"I think it's time Naruto and I revealed our Patronus charms to the school," he said a little too calmly.

Snape looked at him sharply.

"You can perform a Patronus?"

"A corporeal one, yes."

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this...?" muttered Snape.


	13. Chapter 13

Okami and Naruto were under the invisibility cloak, aiming their wands at the window outside the great hall. They had left two perfect shadow clones in their place, so no one would realize it wasn't them.

"Ready to prank the entire school in a way the Twins could never duplicate?" asked Okami.

Naruto smirked. This was something he had been dying to try out since his magic teacher banned them from using it on the village. Why?

Because the last thing the Hokage needed was the ANBU and every ninja in the village having nightmares that old fox face was free.

They leveled their wands and said in unison _"Expecto Patronum!"_

What would happen next would be the talk of rumors and legends for years to come.

Out of Naruto's wand came his Kyuubi patronus, in his full size. He dwarfed the castle easily with a few of his tails. It sat right behind Dumbledore and looked through the window.

You could hear the screams of fright from the students.

When the teachers went to confront the massive fox, they found another problem waiting.

Okami's patronus was the four tailed wolf he named Yoru. It took them a good thirty minutes to realize that the wolf and fox were in fact the Patronus charms...and that every dementor on Hogwarts grounds had suddenly vanished, never to be seen again.

Okami and Naruto did a quick kawarimi with their clones, and he hid his cloak before anyone was the wiser.

By the time the teachers returned, only Lupin knew who the culprit was. And he was doing his best not to look at them.

Besides, with the clones pretending to be them the entire time, they had the perfect alibi. As did the twins.

And that ended the Hogwarts year. Well...almost. The Ministry had to investigate where the dementors scarpered off to.

* * *

Naruto high fived his brother, cackling at the prank they had just played on the teachers. Not only could they _not_ pin the blame on the brothers, but even the twins had been cleared.

To top off their successful end of the year prank, they were sitting with the twins all the way to the platform.

Of course they couldn't head straight to Konoha. They had to pick up presents first. So they delegated Okami and Hinata to do the buying the gifts.

Once that was done, Remus port keyed the shinobi and Hermione straight to the village.

Where Tsunade and Anko were waiting, amused.

_In Tsunade's office..._

"What's this report I received from Remus about the Nine Tailed Fox and Four tailed Wolf appearing at the end of year feast?" she asked amused.

Okami and Naruto bowed, taking full credit.

"Dumbledore blew my cover as their precious boy-who-lived, so I felt a little retaliation was in order. Is it my fault that it took them forever to figure out that the wolf and fox were actually someone casting the Patronus Charm?" snickered Okami.

She couldn't exactly fault them, because they had actually done their job of protecting the students. Just not from the initial target of Sirius Black.

"Well, since you four have only just gotten home, you all get a three day reprieve from missions. Then you'll have to join Kakashi on a joint mission."

The four left, to relax. It had been a stressful nine months.

Hermione stayed, mostly because Anko had her hand on the girl's shoulder. She had just come back from the T and I division, and had been subject to a rather thorough background check before she was allowed out. Her parents had gotten similar treatment, and had met Tsunade's approval to create a new dental hygiene division in the hospital.

"Now, as for you Miss Granger... Your parents have settled in nicely, once they got over the shock of the fact that this was a shinobi village."

"Shinobi?"

"I believe the Western folk like to call us Ninja," she clarified.

Suddenly all the little details she had found odd clicked.

She facepalmed.

"Why didn't I guess that from the start... It explains far too much about those two idiots..." she grumbled.

The insane speed, their ability to have the perfect alibi even when they signed their pranks, all those odd items they had...plus the headbands.

Tsunade coughed.

"Naruto and Okami are...unique in our village. Fortunately they are the only shinobi who use their skills to prank others. Now, you are free to join our Academy or take the same magical lessons Okami and his team had taken prior to their last mission."

"Wait, I can become a shinobi too?"

She looked at Hermione amused.

"Okami and Naruto spoke highly of your skills as a witch and we've discovered that magically inclined people are often very good at manipulating chakra. The only real issue we've found with them is their lack of physical skills, which is easy enough to fix."

Hermione suddenly looked horrified.

"You're not going to force me to be anywhere near _those_ two are you?"

Tsunade looked confused, but Anko cracked up.

"We aren't going to let you anywhere near Gai or Lee," she cackled.

Hermione looked rather relieved. She could put up with getting stronger, so long as it wasn't with Gai or Lee.

Tsunade gave Anko a look.

"Okami told me that he summoned _those_ two to Hogwarts because the Headmaster was stupid enough to try and break into his mind. He kept them there for three whole days."

"So that's where they went. We assumed they were on some idiot training mission again."

Neji and Tenten, the other two on Might Gai's team, had long since worked out a simple schedule with the mission room ninjas whenever the idiot duo went on training exercises. They would work around the village until the idiots returned, or trained on their own.

* * *

"Wait, so let me get this straight. We have to escort the actress who plays Princess Gale? The ones where they mix magic and chakra?" asked Naruto, nearly bouncing off the walls.

Okami and his family had gone to see the movies, if only because Okami was an actual magic user. Naruto had developed a real crush on the actress who played the main character.

Though to be fair, the only other option was the Icha Icha movie, and even Okami had trouble sneaking into those.

"Yup."

Naruto looked at their sensei/mom and threw his arms around her. He had thought they were going to do another boring ass mission like the one when they went to Wave country.

"You rock, Anko-kaa-san!"

Anko laughed, and took it all in with good humor. She was used to Naruto's display of affection. Okami just thought his mother was insane.

The only reason Okami was even willing to go on this mission was to keep from listening to Hermione. While the girl had adjusted quickly to the school work, she didn't really like the fact that she would become a killer.

Her plan was to work at it and become a teacher like Iruka, who absolutely adored the girl. She was even better than Sakura when it came to her school work.

(Surprisingly enough, when Sakura met Hermione the two just clicked. It didn't hurt that Hermione had absolutely zero interest in Sasuke Uchiha or Okami Mitarashi.)

"Right, anyway Kakashi still hasn't told his team about the mission, so he's giving all of you free tickets to the new movie. Now you can either work on your chakra control on the ceiling or you can practice stealing everyone's snacks. Your choice."

Okami and Sasuke decided to work on chakra control while Naruto used his foxes to steal everyone's snacks.

Of course Sakura and her group were trying like mad not to fall off the ceiling.

* * *

"Well that sucked," complained Sakura.

Someone had finally caught on to the fact that Naruto had been stealing food, and that the ninja kids were on the ceiling. Though that may have been because of Sakura hissing at Naruto to knock it off.

Much to the amusement of the others, Naruto's crush on the actress Princess Gale had become pretty obvious. Okami couldn't help but tease him about it...particularly when Naruto was just as famous as the woman since he was the drummer of Fenrir Wolf and Zodiac Three.

He was about to tease his brother some more when he heard the distinct sound of hooves.

He blinked.

And blinked again when he saw Princess Gale in the flesh jumping over the fence, being chased by several men in costume.

"Okay, either they're filming the new movie or she's being chased," he said.

It took exactly three seconds before they ran off to help her. Sakura was quick to replace the actress while Sasuke and her teammates dealt with her pursuers. Naruto and Okami were the only one who bothered to actually follow the woman.

* * *

Sasuke was decidedly unimpressed with the actors. While he stared at the director, a thought came to him.

One he knew Okami would definitely approve of.

"Say, how would people react if Fenrir Wolf or Zodiac Three appeared in this new movie?" he asked.

Everyone looked at him.

"You know them?" asked Sakura. She had a major crush on Fenrir.

"I can get the a hold of them pretty easily."

The director grinned. Those two groups were insanely popular with the people, especially the ninjas.

"I would love having either of them on the set!"

Sasuke grinned.

"In that case, should we ever get attacked I guarantee that you'll have at least one of the bands on set to protect you."

"How do you know that Sasuke?" asked Kakashi.

Sasuke's smirk was almost at Naruto levels as he said "Henge!"

Sakura fainted from blood loss.

Sasuke was Hati, the guitarist of Fenrir Wolf!

"And Zodiac Three?"

Sasuke's grin was definitely at Naruto levels now. He used the boy's sexy jutsu to turn into Tsuki.

The rest of Sakura's team fainted from blood loss.

"We make more money singing than we do at missions most days," said Sasuke with amusement.

"How on earth do you three keep people from realizing it's a henge?" asked Kakashi.

"The thing about our disguise is that we only use our Henge on our headbands. A few alterations using make up and the like and people can't tell it's us. For the other side we just use Naruto's Sexy Jutsu."

Kakashi would never admit it, but Naruto was a literal master of the henge. Very few people could disguise themselves as the opposite gender and pull it off so successfully.

* * *

Okami stared at Sasuke with open amusement.

"You volunteered Fenrir Wolf or Zodiac Three for protecting her on set?"

"Good publicity, don't you think?"

"Which is the only reason I would agree to it in the first place," laughed Okami.

Upon finding out that, yes Okami was in fact Fenrir and Hoshi, Sakura did the only thing her fan girl mind would allow.

She begged him for his autograph.

Kakashi had found Naruto and Okami, and between the three of them had retrieved the actress.

Though she had been dead drunk at the time.

Okami didn't want to enter the scene just yet, because it wouldn't be dramatic enough. In the event actual ninjas attacked, they would arrive in a dramatic fashion as Fenrir Wolf.

Once Okami mentioned that to the director, he was all for it.

* * *

Okami shivered, and looked outside with disdain. He looked at his team and complained "Did this ship take us back to England or something?"

Naruto sneezed. Okami handed him the pepper up potion without saying a word. They were at least doing better than Kakashi's genin. They had never been exposed to the frigid cold like his team had. For nearly seven months.

"So they're actually going to use this glacier?"

"Right. I think we better prepare for our dramatic entrance, because this feels too much like a set up to me," said Okami.

Naruto yawned. But the three got to work anyway. Between Okami and Sasuke, they managed to get Naruto ready for any fights that broke out.

They even changed out of their usual outfits into something that suited the cameras better.

Gone was Naruto's orange and blue nightmare. Okami had bullied him into a proper chunin vest and a sleeveless blue shirt. His pants were made of denim, after Okami had dragged them all into buying some of the material in England. Naruto got the rest of his outfit ready.

Sasuke and Okami got into their preferred outfits, and waited for the real show to begin.

Not five minutes into the filming, their time had come. Kakashi started it off with a bang, surprising the actors. (Including the guy playing the villain, to their open amusement.)

The ninja that Kakashi had found got out of his hiding place and smirked.

"Welcome to the Land of Snow."

Three other ninjas appeared, all wearing strange armor.

"I welcome you, Princess Koyuki... You did bring the Hex Crystal, didn't you?" sneered the lone kunoichi.

"I've got to hand it to you, Kakashi Hatake. We couldn't get any closer than this."

Okami grinned. And then signaled to his team '_It's show time!_'.

Okami jumped in behind Kakashi, Naruto stayed close to Yukie, and Sasuke was beside Kakashi.

"Looks like this day got more interesting, eh, Hati?" said Okami smoothly.

"I agree Fenrir. I thought this mission was going to be boring!" said Sasuke.

Naruto grinned, having already caught on to the idea. It didn't hurt that Okami had explained the situation well enough for even him to understand.

("Listen Naruto, if enemy shinobi show up, we are going to play a game."

"What kind of game?"

"It's called the code name game. In order to play, you have to call us by our stage names for as long as the camera rolls. If it's off then you don't have to call us Fenrir or Hati. Okay?"

"Sounds like fun Okami! I mean Fenrir!")

Kakashi looked at the boys in disbelief. He knew that they were going along with Sasuke's idea to act as Fenrir Wolf instead of Konoha ninja, but he had no idea how far they were going to go with it. Then he realized that they had no intention of hiding their village affiliation any more. All three of them were wearing their Leaf hitai ate proudly.

"Everyone, return to the ship!"

Okami looked at Sakura and the others.

"Sakura-san, get the civilians out of here while we distract them," said Okami.

She nodded, and started to direct her team mates like a pro. Then again, they usually followed her directions anyway, because if they didn't she wouldn't shut up.

"Fubuki, Mizore... get Princess Koyuki," said the enemy.

And just like that, the real ninja battle was on. The director couldn't have asked for a better scene.

Okami didn't doubt for a minute that once this film hit the screens, it would sell out faster than the Icha Icha Paradise movie. It wasn't every day that one caught a real ninja battle on film and lived to tell about it.

"It's been a while, Kakashi. Not running away? Like last time?"

"Nadare Roga."

As if a signal had been heard, the two ninja clashed.

Okami and his team stood in front of Yukie and the others.

"Hati, you protect the Princess. Skoll, you're with me. Let's give these fiends a real work out!" said Okami with a grin.


End file.
